In Vino Veritas?
by MZephyr
Summary: RanmaxAkane. You know all of those stories where Ranma and Akane get drunk, wake up the next morning in bed together, and realize what they did the previous night ...?
1. Vino

**In Vino Veritas?  
By M. Zephyr**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. You know all of those stories where Ranma and Akane get drunk, wake up the next morning in bed together, and realize what they did the previous night ...?

Warning: There is a small amount of sexual description and situations in this story.

* * *

**Chapter 1. Vino**

Pain. That was the first sensation. The realization gradually grew that other sensations lurked underneath. A foul taste. A touch of nausea. A need to relieve pressure, somewhere lower down. But the pain overwhelmed it all. The void of oblivion still hovered nearby, seductive with its promise that the pain would disappear along with all other thought, and for a moment she nearly allowed herself to be seduced by that oblivion. But she was stubborn beyond measure, and she would rather face whatever it was and be done with it.

Slowly, she clawed her way up to consciousness. Almost she regretted her decision, her insistence, as the pain came into clearer focus. But with a final effort, she forced the fog to part and woke.

Akane Tendo opened her eyes, then quickly squeezed them shut again. It was bright, far too bright. The light stabbed straight into her brain, causing a cascade of new pain - like shards of glass impaling her through her eyes. She gave a soft whimper which she immediately regretted, as it only made the agony worse.

What cold have happened? What kind of injury could she have sustained for her head to suffer so? Had she lost a fight? Had Shampoo finally brained her with a mace? Surely her skull must be cracked wide open, and her brains even now oozing out.

When she didn't die in the next minute or two - despite the tiny thought that to do so could only be an improvement - the young woman started to take stock of herself. She was lying on her side on something soft. There was a weight lying across her midsection. Below the neck, the rest of her body felt like it was in working condition, though various minor twinges and complaints were absently noted for later investigation.

Akane still wasn't ready to risk opening her eyes again, so she considered her other senses. Taste was quickly passed over, since it suggested that she'd been drinking from a sewer. There was a faint susurrus of air from somewhere behind her. Aside from that, she couldn't hear anything except for some damned bird singing somewhere nearby, at the top of its lungs, whose little warbling neck she vowed to wring as soon as she could get up.

She finally decided to risk another look. A quick peek, barely opening her eyes. This revealed to her surprised relief that she was lying in her own bed. So the weight upon her must be her blankets. For a moment she had feared she might be lying in a hospital somewhere.

Akane didn't feel like moving at the moment. In fact, she still half wished that she might die, and thereby escape the hammering inside her head. However, since her body remained stubbornly alive, she tried to cast back in her memories to see if she could recall how she had come to be in this state.

After a moment or two she remembered the party. Last night? It must have been. At Hiroshi's house. Not a very large party, about a dozen people. Yuka was there, of course, since she and Hiroshi were going steady now. So she and Sayuri went as well. And Ranma and Daisuke were there, as Hiroshi's closest friends. And about half a dozen others from their class. Though not Ukyo, Akane recalled with a smile which she immediately regretted. How the hell could a _smile_ hurt?

She and Ranma had walked over together, and for once hadn't been bothered by any other rivals, suitors, or anyone else. Such times were rare occurrences, to be treasured when they came along. The walk had been pleasant, no arguments or insults. Mostly they had traded wisecracks over the way Hiroshi and Yuka weren't able to keep their eyes off each other lately.

Akane tried to remember the party itself, but nothing came to her to explain her current condition. There had been music and dancing. She smiled as she remembered that she'd talked Ranma into dancing with her once. At least once ... Akane frowned at dim memories that tried to surface, then brushed them away. There had been some drinking going on, but she and Ranma had both refused - being martial artists they preferred not to pollute their bodies with alcohol.

She'd had some orange juice though. Akane remembered that. Quite a lot of it, she now recalled. The first one - had it tasted strange? Yes, perhaps a little strange, but not unpleasantly so. In fact, it had been quite good, and definitely better for the body than soda or alcoholic drinks. No doubt, that was why she'd had so many. She'd talked Ranma into trying one and then, yes, he'd had several as well. What was it Hiroshi had said when he handed her the first one? Some funny English word. Spew? Skew? Screw-something or other?

Akane's memories became very fuzzy after that. More dancing. Singing. Try though she might, she couldn't remember anything else. For that matter, she had no memory of leaving the party, or coming home, or getting into bed. Maybe ... maybe ... Kodachi had showed up at the party and drugged her? Without any memories it was impossible to say.

Akane considered the sensations coming from her body. Overall, she felt more or less healthy except for the way her head hurt. Her lips felt a little swollen, though. Probably from when she and Ranma kissed. And her ...

Wait - she kissed Ranma?! She couldn't have! But ... there did seem to be a ... vague ... sort of ... memory of something ... like a kiss. Akane swallowed heavily, searching inside her head. Try though she might, the image remained elusive.

The futile effort at recollection was interrupted as a new realization crashed through her thoughts.

‹Oh gosh! I'm naked!› Akane's eyes widened in shock, then closed once more against the pain.

The young woman was hideously embarrassed to think that she'd simply stripped before getting into bed. If she could manage to get her clothes off, why couldn't she manage to get some pajamas on? At least she could assume - hope! - that she'd been alone in her room at the time. Akane knew that someone like her sister Kasumi couldn't have helped her into bed, or she'd certainly be wearing pajamas. Then she remembered that Kasumi couldn't have helped her anyway. Everyone else in the family had left after dinner on that trip to the beach, leaving her and Ranma behind because they had school Monday.

As these thoughts passed through her mind, Akane's attention continued to traverse her body. When it reached the junction between her legs, she frowned. There was a little ... pain, there, for some reason. Had she maybe ... indulged herself? A little too vigorously? Even though she couldn't remember anything? She probably ought to check, make sure she hadn't scratched herself or something.

Akane decided that it was time to stop putting off getting up. Not only to examine herself, but to go in search of a couple of Advil. If there was any mercy in heaven, they might do something to ease the torment in her head.

She sat up.

Whereupon she promptly discovered that the weight across her waist had not been anything so mundane as a fold in the blankets. As it flopped down beside her on the bed, Akane found herself looking down in amazement at an arm. There was a snort from behind her, followed by a slurred, "Whuzzat? Ow! Crap, my head!"

Akane spun around, staring in horror at the sight of none other than Ranma Saotome, the fiancé her father had forced on her two years ago. Lying on her bed. Beside her. It had been his arm lying across her.

In the process of sitting up she must have pulled the blankets down - far enough at any rate to reveal that he, too, was fully unclothed. For a moment she forgot how to scream, staring at the sight of him, or rather at a specific portion of him. A portion she had seen only a few memorable times before.

Ranma's eyes opened and Akane suddenly remembered how to scream. His eyes snapped all the way open at the sound, in shock. But then he recoiled in pain, closing his eyes and grabbing the sides of his head with his hands. Akane likewise grabbed at her own head, her scream turning to one of pain, whereupon she fell over the side of the bed.

The shock of falling cut off her scream, allowing conscious thought to return. Akane remembered that she was naked and alone in the room with Ranma. She seized the blanket and yanked it free, spinning him around, draping herself in it hurriedly. Face blazing red, she snatched up the shinai leaning against her wall and advanced toward the bed, lifting it high, preparing to perform her own version of last rites.

Ranma opened his eyes again muzzily. "A-Akane? What the ...? Why am I in your room?" He noted the shinai she was brandishing, and pressed his back harder against the wall, holding one palm out in front in protest. "H-h-hang on! What's going on? Wh-what did I do?"

"I don't know!" Akane hissed. "But whatever it was, you're going to die for doing it!"

She leapt forward, swinging the weapon. Unfortunately, her foot caught on the lower edge of the blanket she had wrapped around her body, tripping her and leaving the blanket behind. The practice sword went flying, hitting the wall and falling down behind the bed. As Akane fell forward, she landed right on top of Ranma, who caught her automatically, protectively. Their foreheads clonked together.

Two voices cried out in pain simultaneously, the force of the impact doing nothing to help their headaches. Akane rolled off the side of the bed once more, scrambling to pull the blanket back over herself. Ranma scooted away from her toward the head of the bed and grabbed a pillow to cover himself strategically.

Ranma asked plaintively, "Can't you at least tell me why I'm here? Naked? You know - before you kill me?"

Akane growled angrily, then looked down. "Mhm mm ummer," she muttered.

"Huh?"

"I said I don't remember!" she snarled, too loudly, making them both wince again. She went on more quietly, "The last thing I remember is the party last night. Drinking orange juice. And, uh, dancing. And stuff. I don't even remember coming home."

Ranma gazed off into the distance. "Yeah. The party. That's right." He thought some more. "I don't remember coming home either. The last thing I remember is, uh, dancing. With, uh, you. I think ... I think I must've been drunk. _We_ must've been drunk."

Akane glowered. "What? Are you saying you wouldn't dance with me unless you were drunk? Well I ..."

"I didn't say that!" Ranma snapped, interrupting. He winced, putting his hand to his forehead as the sharp tone tore through his head. Speaking more gently in deference to the pain, he said, "But I don't remember things too well. And I don't remember coming home at all. And my head is killing me - I think I got a hangover. There must have been something in that orange juice."

"Yeah," Akane sighed, clutching the blanket tighter.

"I'm gonna kill that Hiroshi," Ranma grumped. He looked up at her, then lowered his eyes again. Their shared nudity loomed large in his thoughts. "You don't suppose that we ... we wouldn't have ... uh ... uh ..."

Akane closed her eyes in panic. She realized that she had been firmly suppressing any thought of the possibility, but Ranma's words had shattered the subconscious effort. Forced to confront the idea, she thought for a moment about digging out the shinai and resuming her attempt to beat him to death, but broke down into tears instead.

"Hey! Hey, don't cry!" Ranma gasped, feeling his own panic rising within. He scooted closer, keeping the pillow over himself, and put an arm around his fiancée's shoulders.

Akane started beating on him with her fists. "Let go of me! This is all your fault!"

It was obvious, though, that she must have been of two minds about pushing him away. After all, she could easily have hit much harder. Thinking about what they might have done, and remembering at last that they ought to be alone in the house, Ranma tightened his arm around Akane, pulling her in close. His other arm wrapped around her. He let her cry into his shoulder, ignoring the fists half-heartedly striking against his chest. After a while she stopped hitting and wrapped her arms around him, holding tight, seeking some sense of security from his solid presence.

When the tears finally slowed, Akane whispered into his shoulder, "I ... I always wanted my first time to be special. On my wedding night. Do you ... do you think we really ..."

Ranma wished he knew what to say. Wished there was some sort of comfort he could give her. "I don't know," he whispered. "I don't remember either." He raised his head, remembering something he'd heard guys talking about, joking about. "But I think there might be a clue. Maybe." He started feeling around the sheets, near the center of the bed.

"What are you ... what are you looking for?" Akane asked uneasily.

Ranma stopped, a funny look on his face. He gave a heavy sigh. "There's a, well, a bit of the sheet here is kinda wet. I remember the guys in the locker room joking about a 'wet spot'. I think, maybe, we ... might've."

Akane pulled away, wiping at her eyes. The thought that she and Ranma might have done _that_ was affecting her in some strange way. The urge to break his bones one by one was fading. She was feeling horribly adrift. Could she really have let Ranma do - _that_ - to her? And if she had, would anything ever be the same again?

Eyes down, still whispering, Akane asked, "Isn't there any way we can tell? For sure?"

Ranma moved the pillow out a little, still blocking Akane's view but allowing him to examine himself. The dried traces he saw were not wholly unfamiliar. "It uh ... it uh ... looks like I might've ... well, done something. Uh ..." His tone became troubled. "Can't _you_ tell? Wouldn't you know if we ...?"

Akane fought for calm. The pain she had noticed - down _there_ - was still present. But shouldn't it be a lot worse? Hadn't the girls who had done this said that it hurt a lot the first time? But then, she _was_ a martial artist. She had a pretty high tolerance for pain. It might have felt a lot worse to them.

"I ... I don't know," Akane confessed. "I'm not sure. Maybe." She hesitated. Their nudity was making her feel off balance, awkward. "Look. Could you ... leave me alone for a bit? So we can get dressed? It's ... I'm feeling pretty weird, here."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure." Ranma climbed off the bed with care, keeping the pillow between himself and Akane as he made his way to the door. He closed it behind himself, then sprinted for his own bedroom.

Still sitting on the bed in her room, Akane wished that she could somehow go back and erase last night from existence. But she couldn't. She was going to have to live with it. An interesting question was why she had stopped attacking Ranma. Shouldn't she be trying to skin him alive for being a pervert with her? Yet somehow ... that didn't feel right. She didn't feel like the same person anymore. She was a stranger in her own body.

Slowly, as if moving through molasses, Akane stood up and walked to her door, locking it. She picked up a mirror from her shelf, before crossing back over to her bed. Reluctantly, she let the blanket slide to the floor. Sitting on the edge of the bed, cursing herself for getting into this situation, the young woman made a careful examination. There was nothing obviously wrong, but there _were_ traces of something there, something she didn't recognize. She lifted a finger with a large tacky drop on the end, shuddering at the thought of what it must be.

* * *

A little later Ranma and Akane were sitting together at the breakfast table, both now fully clothed. A steaming, ready-to-serve meal was sitting in front of the young man, fresh out of the microwave. Akane, sipping at a cup of tea, stared at him, wondering how he could even stand the sight of food given the way her stomach felt. Truthfully though, he was only picking at his meal, without much appetite. The mutual embarrassment served to choke off all conversation.

The main thing holding Akane back from speaking was fear for how Ranma was going to react. Would he pretend it hadn't happened? Insult her, say he could only have done it because he was drunk? Would he bolt, leave her forever? Choose one of the other girls in panic?

Well, so far he had avoided any insults. So far. Probably in too much shock, she thought. So - perhaps this would be a good time to talk to him? Before he recovered? Maybe, for once, they could have a serious discussion. God knew they needed to have one, right now.

Akane cleared her throat. "About last night. I ... checked a little further. I'm pretty sure we did."

"D-Did what?" Ranma asked, nervously.

Okay, so maybe he was recovering already, Akane growled to herself. "Have sex, moron!" she snapped her answer. "The question is, what now?"

"Wh-wh-what do you mean, what now?" Ranma stuttered. "Can't we just, you know, go on? Like always?" He turned a little belligerent. "Are you trying to tell me I gotta marry you? Just 'cause we ... uh ..."

"Had sex!" Akane finished for him. "Gods, you're so immature! Can't you even say it?"

Ranma flushed. Akane continued speaking. "And no, I wasn't saying you have to marry me. Do you really think I'm like that? That I'd try to trap you into a marriage, just because we, we, _screwed_?!"

Ranma flinched at the raw profanity. He shook his head in the negative, unable to speak.

Akane sighed. "I just ... I'd like to know what you're going to do. I mean, will you go into some kind of panic? Maybe run away? Do you think you'll ... leave ... here?"

"Um ... no?" Ranma said, making a question of it. "Why? Uh, did you want me to?"

Akane looked down at her knees. "I don't ..." She paused, taking time to think over what she wanted to say, then started again. "I don't want you to feel obligated. I don't want you to stay because you feel you have to, or because you feel you owe me, ..." Her voice started to crack. "... or because anyone is telling you to, ... I just ..."

Akane rested her face in her hand for a moment, then brushed her hair back from her forehead, looking up. "I'm tired, Ranma. I'm tired of not knowing where I stand with you. After last night ... I ... I don't think I can take not knowing any more. What do you want? What do you really want?"

Ranma turned to look out through the open shoji. What answer was he to give to her question? An honest one? Brush it off with a joke? An insult? He thought about what he and Akane had done last night. What they had shared. Even if neither one of them remembered it. He felt as if there was a weight pressing on him. He felt a need to be serious.

But if he was going to be serious, there was something serious he needed to know first. Something which had lain between them from the very beginning.

Quietly, Ranma asked a question in return. "Do you think I'm a freak?"

Akane blinked, wondering where that had come from. But as she pondered it, she thought she began to understand. If she wanted honesty from him, then she had to give honesty to him. She even felt a little touched by the insecurity he had revealed to her with his question.

"No," she answered. "I don't think you're a freak. Your curse ... it was strange to me at first. But not any more. You're ... unique. To me, you're ... just Ranma."

He sighed, then realized he was breathing more easily. Taking a deep breath, Ranma told her, "Then what I want ... is to stay here."

"For now, you mean?" Akane asked. "Or ... forever?"

"Which would you prefer?" Ranma croaked.

Frustrated, Akane started to say through clenched teeth, "You ..." Then she caught herself. She wasn't going to fall into old traps. His answer seemed to indicate that he was willing to give the answer she wanted, so long as he knew that she wanted it. Speaking as calmly as she could, trying not to spook him, Akane said, "One of us has to say it first, baka. But if you're too scared, then I guess It'll have to be me. I ..."

He interrupted, an odd note in his voice. "I ain't scared, dammit." Trying to imagine what this event must have meant to Akane, he dredged up some resolve. "Forever," he said, very softly. "I'd like to stay forever."

Akane inhaled deeply, heartened by the implication. Despite her worries, despite how unsettled she still felt from what had happened, elation spread within her. On the other hand, it would be nice to have it stated plainly. So she asked, rather breathlessly, "Does that mean that you want to, uh, marry ... me?"

Ranma swallowed heavily, still unable to turn and look at her. "If ... if that's what you want. Then yeah. Someday."

"Uh, yeah, someday," Akane repeated, getting a grip on herself. After all, they were still in high school. She didn't feel at all ready to have a husband, to be someone's wife. Still, she had to fight the urge to giggle. Maybe last night was worth it, after all. _Not_ as a trap to force him into agreeing to marry her - that thought was repugnant. But at long last they had _finally_ broached the subject they had never dared face before, and if a drunken night of unremembered sex had inspired that, perhaps she could live with what happened after all.

"What about, you know, the others?" Akane asked.

"You mean our families?" Ranma asked in surprise. "Hell, my old man would be ecstatic if he could've heard what we just said! Yours too."

"No," Akane replied with a touch of exasperation. "I mean ... the other, you know, fiancées."

"Oh. Them." Ranma shrugged. "They can't stop me. Us. Not if I'm serious. The scheming, the attacks, everything, it's been a lot of fun. But when the time comes, we'll just do it, and that'll be that."

Akane stared, mouth hanging open slightly. "Fun?! All the, the, craziness? That's your idea of fun?"

He finally turned and looked at her, grinning. "Yeah. C'mon. You gotta admit, it sure ain't been boring, has it?"

"No-oo. I think I can definitely agree, it hasn't been boring." Despite herself, Akane found her own lips lifting in a matching grin.

Silence reigned for the next several minutes as they both contemplated the future while Ranma finally ate his breakfast, and Akane drank her tea. When she pushed her cup aside and leaned on the table, Akane gave her fiancé a look with lifted eyebrows and said, "A little earlier I asked, 'What now?' The future ... is in the future. What about today? Tomorrow? Is anything changed? Do we go on like always? Fights? Insults? Shouting?"

"Eh." Ranma lay back on his elbows, uncomfortable. "I dunno. I guess ... I do feel different." His face twisted, thinking, then he shook his head. "Why don't we just take it a day at a time? I mean, I reckon we ain't gonna suddenly start fooling around all the time like we did last night ..."

"You want me to beat you to death after all?"

"... but I reckon things are bound to be a bit different between us. Neither of us is gonna be able to forget it, for sure. Which, y'know, sounds really strange since neither of us can remember it. Another thing - seems to me, it ain't so hard talking to you like this, right now. But when our pops get back, and start yammering at us about marrying right away ..."

"Yeah." Akane hung her head. "You'll lose your head and start yelling. And then I'll yell at you. And ..."

"Hey!" Ranma protested. "Who says I'll start the yelling?"

"You always do," she answered smugly, smirking at him.

"Hmph." He turned away, studying the yard outside again. After a minute a thought occurred to him, a thought which caused his insides to twist nauseously. Why had he taken so long to think of it? He wrestled with the notion, fearing to speak of it, wishing to forget that the thought had ever come to him. Yet he knew that they could not avoid considering the possibility.

Finally, he turned around but kept his eyes down on the table. Softly, quietly, he asked, "Akane? What if, you know, what if you get, if you're, ..." He took a deep breath. "... pregnant?"

Akane inhaled sharply. She realized that this was yet another thought which she had been subconsciously suppressing. Could she be? Was it possible? She counted off days in her head quickly, not knowing whether to thank or curse the fact that she'd always been very regular. When she reached the unfortunate sum, she bit her lip, determined not to moan. She absolutely would _not_ moan.

A small moan of horror escaped despite her best effort.

"Akane?" Ranma's tone was now distinctly worried.

"It ... it ... oh God," she whispered forlornly. She was unable to say anything more. The timing was just about as bad as it could be.

Looking at her, seeing her tremble, Ranma made a decision. Knowing that he was risking injury, he shuffled closer and took Akane in his arms, embracing her closely. Trying to reassure her. While simultaneously trying to hide the fact that his own insides were going into panicked overdrive.

"When will you know?" he asked, noting that his pitch was a trifle high.

Akane was still trembling, holding him tightly, amazed that she had found it so easy to accept his embrace and thankful that he had chosen to offer it. "It'll take a couple of weeks," she answered, voice shaky. "That's when I should, uh, you know ..."

"I'm a girl sometimes, Akane," Ranma reminded her. "I know."

She nodded. "If I, uh, don't ... if it doesn't ..." Akane tried to pull herself together. "Let's pray things happen on time. I don't want to think about it until then."

"Yeah, okay," Ranma said out loud. Only inside his own head did he remark, ‹Fat chance we won't be thinking about it.›

* * *

If it weren't for the near constant fear that she might become a teenage mother, Akane would have felt on top of the world. She and Ranma were actually getting along. They were talking to each other. Without getting into arguments. Without getting into fights. She wished that their families would stay at the beach longer, instead of coming home Wednesday.

In a way it seemed completely upside-down. Considering how much they had fought each other for the last couple of years, one would think that a night of sex neither could remember due to being thoroughly plastered, coupled with a significant risk that they might soon find themselves with an unplanned child on the way - well, one would have expected an explosion between them beyond anything which had gone before. Yet that hadn't happened. Instead, if anything, it was drawing them closer together. It was as if it had forced them past a barrier where they could finally admit to things they could never have confessed previously.

It was rather a pity that it took something like this to bring about such a change in their relationship. Both of them should have been happy, feeling wonderful about how they were getting along. Instead, the fear that she might be ... well, that simply sucked all of the pleasure out of their new found rapport.

And then, to make matters just perfect, school on Monday proved to be extremely embarrassing.

_Everyone_ at school was talking about the party Friday night, including the people who hadn't been there. Even worse, Ranma and Akane were the main topic of conversation. Dancing together wasn't the only unusual thing they had done, it seemed. In particular, people who had been present told a tale of Akane and Ranma kissing very passionately, sitting together in a chair with Akane in Ranma's lap. Ignoring everyone who tried to interrupt. After awhile Hiroshi had pushed them out the door and told them to "Go home if you want to carry on like that." People laughed in recollection of watching them through a window as they stumbled down the street together, arm in arm, stealing occasional kisses.

Just before gym class, Ranma cornered Hiroshi in the locker room. When a hand slammed into the locker beside him, Hiroshi spun around, cowering before Ranma's glare.

"What the hell's the idea of getting me and Akane drunk?" he snarled. "You thought it was funny, spiking our drinks?"

"N-n-no! Hell no!" Hiroshi fumbled for words. "You asked for them! I-I-I just gave you the dr-drinks you asked for! Honest!"

Ranma gritted his teeth. "I didn't know there was alcohol in 'em."

Hiroshi fidgeted, trying to control his shaking limbs. "B-but I told Akane! I swear! I _told_ her they were screwdrivers!"

"What?" Ranma asked, puzzled. "What's that?"

"You know!" Hiroshi insisted anxiously. "Orange juice and vodka?"

Ranma dragged a hand down his face. "No. I didn't know. And I don't think Akane did either. You ..." He broke off. He wanted to smash Hiroshi's face in for this. Not so much because they ended up drunk. But that was what had led to Akane maybe being pregnant. Not that he was going to breathe a word about that.

Ranma realized that he was grinding his teeth together, while his friend watched him in fear. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't at all sure that Hiroshi was all that much to blame. Which didn't keep Ranma from wanting to blame him. He pulled back his arm and smashed his fist into the locker beside Hiroshi's head, shoving the crumpled door all the way to the back.

"It'll never happen again. I promise," Hiroshi whispered.

"Yeah," Ranma nodded, resigned. He walked away, head hanging, thinking there was no need for it to happen again. The first time had already been the one time too many.

At the same time, over in the girls' locker room, Ukyo Kuonji approached Akane with a glare of her own. Akane stood up from the bench to meet her, crossing her arms, locking gazes with her steadily.

"What's all this I hear about you kissing my Ranchan?" Ukyo hissed.

"Honestly, I don't remember that at all. I was a bit - well, more than a bit - drunk at the time," Akane pointed out mildly. Her voice sharpened as she added, "And in any case, Ranma _is_ my fiancé."

Ukyo took a step back, startled. She was unprepared to hear Akane flat out admit that she and Ranma were engaged. Usually, if anyone dared to mention it, the two of them reacted with denials or even outright violence. However, she recovered quickly.

"In case you've forgotten, _I'm_ the cute fiancée." She kept her voice flat, avoiding any hint of smugness, sure that the words alone would get her point across.

For once Akane was not troubled by this proclamation, buffered by the memory of Ranma's statement that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. So she just shrugged, demonstrating her lack of concern.

"I suppose it's true that you're cute," Akane admitted, leaving one to wonder what this meant for the other half of the claim. "Although most people don't go around singing their own praises like that."

Ukyo's eyes narrowed. As Akane turned and walked off, Ukyo raised her voice, demanding, "Just stay away from my Ranchan."

"Can't," Akane called back over her shoulder. "We live in the same house." She stepped through the door and out of the locker room, leaving the fuming rival behind her.

* * *

"Oh, it's good to be home," Kasumi said as she walked through the front door.

The others followed right behind. Ranma's mother Nodoka took a look around and said, "Aren't my son and Akane going to greet us?"

Akane's and Kasumi's other sister, Nabiki, glanced at the clock. "We're a bit early. They're only just getting out of school."

"Oh." Nodoka's smile became cheerful again. "I missed them so much. I wish Ranma and his fiancée could have come with us. He was out of my life for so long, that I want to spend as much time with him as possible. I want the two of us to be a family again."

Genma looked askance at his wife, wondering, ‹What am I? Chopped liver?›

Nabiki just shrugged and headed up the stairs. She dropped off her suitcase in her room, then stealthily slipped next door into Akane's. It was a stroke of luck getting home before the younger pair, and she wasn't going to waste the opportunity. Now if Akane hadn't found ...

Nabiki smiled in victory. The video camera was still there on the shelf, well concealed except for the lens pointing out into the room. She had hidden it there shortly before they left Friday evening, knowing that her sister was going out to a party that night. Of course, most likely there wouldn't be anything of interest aside from Akane coming home and going to bed. Her little sister wasn't the sort to drink. But just imagine if she had ...

She slipped back into her own room and shut the door, sighing in relief at escaping discovery. Plugging the cable into her computer, she congratulated herself once again for having chosen a camcorder with its own hard drive. Not only was it easy to transfer footage to her computer for editing, but it was able to store a full eight hours of video. She had turned it on before leaving at six that night, which meant it would have recorded until two in the morning, more than long enough for Akane to come home.

Nabiki put on the headphones, and started fast forwarding through the unchanging view. She paused at the first sign of motion and then blinked in surprise. That was _Ranma_ standing there, carrying Akane, and ... was she _kissing_ him? Practically salivating, Nabiki rewound to the point where they made their entrance, automatically noting the time on the video was about ten minutes after eleven.

She watched in shock as her sister and her sister's fiancée started making out heavily. Then the clothes started coming off. Nabiki's eyes got wider and wider. Her jaw dropped. "Oh ... my ... God!" she whispered. She continued watching. A broad smile grew on her face. "Oh my!" she concluded.

Nabiki leaned back in her chair, grinning like a loon. She fast forwarded through the rest of the video, but it was clear that nothing else happened once the two of them finished what they were doing and passed out. Now the question was ... what was she going to do with this?

The middle Tendo daughter, despite her mercenary nature, had no intention of selling this to anyone. After all, there were limits, and this was her little sister they were talking about. No, she wasn't going to be party to letting people ogle Akane in the buff. Ranma either, she decided with a sigh. Remembering what the video revealed, Nabiki ran her tongue over her lips. Her sister certainly was a lucky girl.

She came to a decision. This was going to be completely private. No one other than herself was ever going to see it, not even Kasumi. Until the two of them finally got married. _Then_ she was going to send a copy to the two of them, as a wedding gift. Nabiki laughed to herself, picturing the surprise on their faces when they finally watched her "present." With a final chuckle she closed down the program, making sure the file was saved, and wiped the camcorder's drive clean.

It was a pity that she was returning to college tomorrow. Kasumi and her father had protested her decision to leave early, but there were a couple of assignments she needed to finish before Monday. Alas, this would sharply curtail her opportunities to tease the two youngsters. Which was probably all for the best. If she did tease them, it would give away the fact that she knew something, which would spoil the ultimate surprise. It was going to be awfully difficult resisting the temptation, though.

* * *

"Ranchan, can I speak to you?" Ukyo's voice was low, but she couldn't quite hide the snarl in it. The jackass had been sitting beside Akane under a tree all through lunch, and although she'd been waiting for a break in their conversation to get his attention, the pair remained oblivious to her presence until she gave in and interrupted.

Ranma looked up from his empty bento, obviously surprised to see her. "Sure," he said. shrugging. He excused himself from Akane, and followed Ukyo some distance away and around the corner of the school building.

"What's up?" he asked.

"That's what I want to know," Ukyo replied, in a deadly level voice. "What the _hell_ is up between you and Akane this week? You haven't called her uncute once! Dammit, you haven't insulted her at all, except for the occasional 'tomboy'! You've started eating lunch with her instead of Hiroshi and Daisuke. When she picked up those weights after gym class yesterday, you ran over and grabbed them from her and carried them yourself."

She reached out and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him close. "I want to know what's going on. You haven't forgotten that you're marrying me, have you?"

Ranma stared back, at a loss for words. If there was one thing at which he was utterly unskilled, it was dealing with an irate girl. After an overly long pause, Ukyo shook him and asked, "Well?"

Ranma tried to chuckle, but it came out nervously. "It ain't really nothing, Ucchan. Me and Akane did have a talk. We decided to try and see if we couldn't fight less. That's all."

Ukyo stared at him long and hard. "Bull."

Ranma sighed. "It's true. We both decided we were tired of arguing all the time. Thought we'd try it the other way."

The girl confronting him released his shirt to put her hands on her hips. "And why would you suddenly start eating lunch with her instead of your guy friends? Why did you insist on carrying the gym stuff for her? Level with me, Ranchan."

Ranma squirmed under her gaze. Then the boy shrugged. "Got no more to say," he told her.

Ukyo realized that her teeth were clenching together. She forced them to relax. In a cool voice she said, "You know what I think? I think a certain girl is forgetting she's not your _real_ fiancée. I think she needs a little reminding. I think, maybe, a challenge would be a good way to convince her to keep her hands off _my_ fiancé." Ukyo reached behind her and fingered the enormous battle spatula sheathed on her back.

Then she gasped in pain, swinging her head to the side to stare at Ranma's hand clamped on her shoulder. She hadn't even seen his arm move! Ukyo gasped out, "Ranchan! You're hurting me!"

"Sorry," a frozen voice answered. The grip relaxed marginally. Ukyo faced forward, then shrank back from his expression. His blue eyes, normally the color of sapphires, were like chips of ice. An aura was barely visible, swirling around him. Ukyo tried to step back, but the hand on her shoulder restrained her.

Ranma reminded himself, forcefully, that his friend didn't know. She couldn't know that Akane might be pregnant. Might be carrying his child. Her words had been uttered in ignorance, thinking that it was only Akane that she threatened, and that she likely had not intended any serious harm.

He watched Ukyo, who was watching him in growing fear.

"You won't threaten Akane," Ranma said, trying hard to moderate his tone. "I can't tell you why. But you won't attack her. Understand?"

Ukyo nodded, unable to form words, the up and down movement or her head barely noticeable. She didn't dare give any other response.

Ranma closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to calm down. When he opened his eyes again, he released his hold, patting her shoulder genially. "Sorry, Ucchan," he said, sounding more natural. "I can't explain. But things are ... complicated, right now. Maybe someday I can tell you about it." With one last smile he turned and walked away.

Ukyo followed him with her eyes, still frozen to the spot. She had no idea of what was going on, but there was one thing she was sure of. She _never_ wanted to see Ranma looking at her like that again.

* * *

"Mind if I join you?" Akane asked, climbing up onto the roof of her home.

Ranma lay there stretched out on his back, arms folded behind his head, looking utterly relaxed. "No, come on up," he replied. "Just so long as our pops aren't with you. Or eavesdropping. Or even know we're up here together."

Akane chuckled bitterly, walking over and sitting down beside him. "I suppose we should have expected it," she said. "It's pretty obvious we're getting along better. So of course they're going to start suggesting that we should try to have another wedding."

"Mmm," Ranma grunted. When he spoke, he sounded distracted. "It'd be easier to ignore 'em if it weren't for the thought we might haveta. Have a wedding, I mean."

Akane turned toward him quickly, eyes going wider. Then she clenched her fists, catching his meaning. In a fierce voice she told him, "You can just forget that! I'm not going to get married 'because I have to.' The only way we're going to get married is if we both want it!"

Ranma sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's still too soon to know?"

Akane nodded.

Thinking over her words, Ranma tried to decide how to explain his own feelings. In the end, he thought that maybe it would be better to start without words, risky though that might be. Sitting up, he reached out his arm and wrapped it around Akane's shoulders, pulling her in close. She looked up at him in shock, but refrained from pounding him. After a minute she relaxed into the embrace.

After staying that way for several minutes, Ranma tentatively asked, "Do you remember me saying that I wanted to marry you? Eventually?"

Akane snorted. "I remember me asking if you did. And you telling me you would if I wanted to."

"Close enough," Ranma declared. "The point is ..." He hesitated, took a deep breath, then continued. "The point is, if we get married, it's because I want to. Even if we have to do it a bit earlier than I expected."

"But ..."

He reached over with his other hand and clapped it over her mouth. Akane bit him. Ranma yelped, yanking his hand away and shaking the sting out while scowling at her.

"I ain't gonna have people pointing at you and whispering," Ranma told her fiercely. "And I ain't gonna have people saying nasty things about our kid later on. Assuming, you know, that we're gonna have one. I'm still hoping like hell we're gonna luck out there. But if we don't ... then I wanna marry you. Understand?"

Akane looked down. "Don't _you_ understand? I don't want you to feel like you were forced to marry me. I'm not like the other girls. I don't want you to think you were trapped. I don't care what people say about me."

"_I_ care," he said, his voice hard. "Don't that count for something?"

She looked at him, her chin quivering. "And you think _I_ don't care? About you? I don't want you to have to marry me just because of this."

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "You're - not - listening. I _want to_ marry you. Not just because you might be ... you know. Okay, maybe it'll have to be a bit sooner than I expected, but the only difference is when we do it."

Akane dried the moisture which had gathered in her eyes. Thinking over what he had said, she also took notice of how he had said it. She looked at him and asked, curiously, "Since when can you talk so easily about getting married? Why aren't you tripping all over your tongue, baka?"

He snorted, grinning. "Dunno. Think maybe I'm growing up?"

They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, then simultaneously said, "Nawww!" Akane giggled. Ranma chuckled.

Turning serious again, Ranma reached out with his hand, stroking Akane's cheek lightly with his fingertips. "Is it so hard to believe I care about you, tomboy?"

She just stared at him, mesmerized by the contact and the words.

Ranma continued to look into her eyes, feeling an urgency growing within him, a heat rising in his blood. She looked so _right_ sitting there, gazing up at him, resting in the curve of his arm, his other hand still lightly tracing the curve of her jaw. He wished desperately that he could remember, just a little, of what the two of them had shared, only a week and a half ago. Then he remembered how it had begun, what their friends had told them of what they'd been doing at the party.

Slowly Ranma leaned closer. Akane's eyes widened fractionally, but she didn't pull away. He moved a little closer. Her eyes fluttered, her lips parted slightly. Drawing on whatever reserves of courage he had, Ranma closed the remaining distance, feeling his lips touch against hers. Unsure of himself, he pulled back, heart thumping erratically at the thought that he had just kissed Akane. The first such kiss that he would be able to remember.

Akane, staring up at him in wonder, whispered, "Baka."

It only seemed natural to use his lips to keep her from saying anything further.

* * *

Another weekend came around. Ranma was practically hovering around Akane all day Saturday, waiting for some word, which became enormously frustrating for her. In fact she started to fall back into bad habits, punching or kicking at him when it got to be too much.

On Sunday morning, Ranma woke up early, and settled himself in the hall outside Akane's bedroom door, waiting for her to wake up. He could hear Kasumi moving around in the kitchen downstairs, setting up for breakfast, and his father's snores were just audible from the opposite corner of the house. He hoped Akane wouldn't be too upset with him for wanting to know such a private thing about her, first thing on waking. But he _had_ to know, as soon as there was anything _to_ know.

Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on Akane yanking the door open and running out into the hall, her hand over her mouth. Given that he was sitting right in front of that door, it was inevitable that she tripped and fell on top of him, knocking him flat. As she fell, Akane retched, covering Ranma with the contents of her stomach.

Ranma held Akane in his arms, watching her roll over slowly to stare at him in a combination of fury and shame. Trying to defuse a situation which promised mortal injury, he inquired, "Tummy upset?"

Akane couldn't help herself. She barked out an unrestrained laugh. Letting it trail off, she dragged the sleeve of her soiled pajamas across her mouth, wiping away some of the residue. "You have got to be the world's _biggest_ baka," she informed him mock-seriously.

In the meantime, Kasumi's feet could be heard running lightly down the hall. She came around the corner and slid to a stop. Hand raised to her mouth, she exclaimed, "Oh my! Akane! What happened!"

Akane climbed slowly to her feet, examining the sticky mess on her pajamas. It was little consolation that there was more on Ranma than on herself. She looked up with a weak smile for her older sister, "I suppose I have a touch of flu or something."

Kasumi returned her smile, sighing softly. "It does look that way. Why don't you and Ranma go down and put those clothes in the laundry? I'll clean up here." She turned around to head back downstairs, to get a mop and shut off the rice cooker.

Akane and Ranma headed down to the furoba. Akane picked up a yukata and towel and stepped into the inner room, sliding the door closed behind her. Ranma remained in the outer room, dumping his clothes in the sink and pulling on a yukata of his own. He was about to start rinsing his clothes when the door slid open and Akane came back in, wearing the yukata, and dumping her own clothes in the sink with his.

Ranma remarked aggrievedly, "I suppose you expect me to rinse your clothes as well as my own?"

"Of course, baka!" Akane said with false cheer. "After all, I'd have made it to the toilet if I hadn't tripped over you." She let the smile fade from her lips. "I guess you know what this means, don't you?"

Ranma leaned against the wall, closing his eyes in pain. "Ah ... is this what they mean by 'morning sickness'?"

"Afraid so," Akane agreed, with a slight quaver in her voice. "I haven't started, so ... I guess we'd better check. Do you think you can go to a drugstore and pick up a home pregnancy test?"

"Me?!" Ranma exclaimed in shock, rearing back. There was an explosion of pain on the back of his head as he banged his head on the wall. Rubbing the spot gingerly and wincing, he asked, "Why don't you?"

Akane gave him a reproachful look and started holding up fingers. "One. I'm still feeling nauseous. Two. Kasumi thinks I'm sick and might be surprised if I go out right away. Three. This is your fault as much as mine. Four. You've got a better chance of sneaking in with it. If Kasumi sees me carrying a bag in, she might want to know what I bought."

Ranma wilted a little further with each finger. "Okay. You want me to bring it to your room?"

"Please," Akane confirmed. "I ... I'm sorry, Ranma."

"Hey, none of that." He reached out and pulled her into a hug, realizing only after the fact that neither of them were wearing anything under the thin robes. He tried to put it out of his mind, concentrating on comforting the girl who was trembling slightly in his arms.

At last she pulled back. "I'd better wash up. I'll see you later." She closed the door behind herself as she reentered the bathing room.

Ranma rinsed the clothes out in the sink, splashing himself with enough cold water to activate his curse and change into his female form. When he was done he tossed the soiled garments into the washing machine, then headed back upstairs to get into some clothes. He slipped out the window while his old man was still snoring on the futon, although his mother was nowhere to be seen, and was probably downstairs with Kasumi.

* * *

The clerk looked up at the sound of the bell over the door. It was still early on a Sunday morning, and the cute red-haired girl was the first customer of the day. He watched curiously as she wandered up and down the aisles, obviously looking for something, but hesitated to approach her. Some people became annoyed if you offered to help before they had a chance at least to try to find what they were looking for, and the ones who wouldn't were usually less shy about asking for help in the first place.

After a couple of more minutes, however, he walked over and cleared his throat. When the girl looked up, he gave her a smile and asked, in his most friendly voice, "Can I help you find something, Miss?"

Ranma looked around, befuddled. "Yeah. I need to buy a home pregnancy test."

The man blinked, more than a little startled. In his experience, young girls who found themselves in such a situation were a great deal more embarrassed about admitting their need. All the same, this wasn't the first time he had heard such a request, even if it was usually accompanied with more hesitation and sometimes a tear or two. Adopting as much outward compassion as he could, he led the teenage girl two aisles over and pointed to a row of kits.

The bell over the door rang again. He looked up to see a Chinese girl approaching, and called out, "I'll be right with you, Miss."

Shampoo looked toward the voice, and her eyes lit up. Ranma, on the other hand, groaned.

"Nihao, airen! I come pick up bandages for Mousse. Stupid duck boy stab himself with own knife. Why you here?"

The clerk lifted down one of the packages. "Now this is the one I usually recommend. Reliable, and fairly inexpensive."

Shampoo had moved quickly to join them. Ranma, waking up to the peril too late, stepped forward to intercept her, saying, "Hey Shampoo! Fancy meeting you here!"

The Chinese girl glanced at the package the man was holding out, wondering what Ranma was buying. She puzzled out the Japanese characters, then backed up a step, banging into a display.

"Airen?! Why you need pregnancy test?!"

The clerk, aware that he may have just caused an unfortunate incident for his customer, backed away. On reaching the end of the aisle he turned and made his escape, returning to his place of safety behind the counter.

Ranma searched for words. "I ... I ... I ..."

"You?!" Shampoo was horrified. "You have sex?!"

Ranma's flaming red face proclaimed his guilt.

The world spun around Shampoo. She put out a hand to steady herself against the wave of dizziness which swept over her. Her airen ... Ranma ... had had sex, and not with her! Worse, vastly worse, he, she, he thought he might be pregnant! Which meant ...!

Shampoo's mind shattered. ‹The boy I love is, is ... nooo!› With crushing realization, she now knew _why_ Ranma had never responded to any of her glomps. Why it had been so easy for him to ignore her provocative displays. Why he often seemed more excited to see Mousse than herself.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to picture who it might have been. Ryoga? Or the idiot who liked to wave the wooden stick around? How could this have happened? Two years of her life, trying to win someone who would never want her. Two years, down the drain.

"How?" Shampoo asked, almost whimpering. "Why?"

"It ... it happened a couple of weeks ago. We had too much to drink. We ..."

"You drunk?" Shampoo seized on this. "You not know what you do, yes? You not really want ...?" She had trouble finishing the question.

Ranma shook his head slowly, sadly. "I'm sorry, Shampoo. Yes, it was an accident. But it's also what I wanted. I don't even regret the pregnancy. Not really. It's just a few years earlier than I would have wanted."

Shampoo nearly broke down, seeing her hopes crushed. "Is really pregnant?"

Ranma gave her a wry almost-smile. "That's what the test is for. But it looks that way, yeah."

Her shoulders slumped. "Shampoo understand. Good-bye ai- ... Ranma." She turned and fled the store.

Sighing, hoping Akane wouldn't be too mad Shampoo had found out she was pregnant, Ranma headed toward the counter to pay for his purchase.

* * *

Akane stood back up, holding the strip in her hand, feeling irrationally embarrassed. Ranma had slipped into her room and given her the test kit just a few minutes ago, and she hadn't wasted any time coming to the bathroom to use it. She watched it nervously, praying ...

A banging came at the door.

"Just a minute!" Akane called anxiously.

"Hurry, please!" came Aunt Nodoka's voice. "I'm afraid I, er, stabbed my husband. He's bleeding everywhere."

Akane cursed her luck. Hiding the strip carefully in her hand, she opened the door to find a scowling Genma Saotome standing there in his boxers, one hand pressed to his thigh, blood running down his leg. Akane stepped past and let him into the room, where he wet a washcloth and washed the cut while his wife pulled disinfectant out of the cabinet.

"Akane, could you please help me?" Kasumi called.

Akane groaned. "What is it, oneechan?" she asked.

Her older sister sounded a little put out. "There's blood all over the floor in the guest bedroom. Could you help me clean it up?"

Akane thought helplessly of the test strip she was still hiding, then called back in resignation, "I'll be right there!" She stepped into her room and hid the strip behind some books on a shelf, then joined Kasumi in scrubbing the floor.

After they finished with the floor, Kasumi put Genma's bloodstained gi pants in the washing machine and asked Akane to help her to clean the stains from the futon. By the time they were finished with that, the pants were out of the wash, and Kasumi decided it was a good chance for Akane to practice her needlework, sewing up the cut in the pants leg. When she finally escaped, Akane looked back to see Kasumi picking the mangled stitches out, in preparation to redo the job.

By the time she finally got to her room and closed and locked the door behind her, Akane's nerves were nearly wrecked. More than an hour and a half had passed since using the test, and she _still_ didn't know the results. As she pushed the books on the shelf aside, a sudden movement at her window sent Akane jumping back in fright to smash into her wall.

Ranma's lips pulled back in a grimace of apology. He reached forward and tapped lightly on the window. Akane picked up her shinai, causing her fiancé to wave his hands in desperation. She pulled the window open, waving the weapon in his direction threateningly.

"Are you trying to scare me to death, baka?" she demanded.

"No!" he protested. "Just, uh, can I come in?"

With a sigh she stepped back and nodded. Ranma did a flip, landing neatly in her room. He closed the window carefully behind himself, then turned slowly, prepared to face his doom. "Wh-what did it say?" he asked.

Akane nearly hit him, but pulled the punch at the last minute. "I don't know yet!" she whispered through gritted teeth. "Your mother stabbed your father with that sword she's always tossing around, and I had to help clean up the blood. Where were you?"

"Uh ..." Ranma hesitated, then went on in a small voice. "Waiting on the roof above your window to find out what it said."

Akane did hit him at that, but it was only a token gesture, a tap with no force behind it. "Baka. Come on. I guess we'll find out together."

She walked over to the shelf and finished pushing the books aside. Reaching behind, her fingers closed on the strip. At that point, Akane froze. When she pulled it out, she was going to get the answer. She was, suddenly, mortally terrified of that answer.

Ranma's hand touched her shoulder. "I'm here with you, tomboy."

With that, Akane found she could move again. She pulled the strip out, and gazed at it. Then it fell from her nerveless fingers. The room spun, and she was falling herself.

Ranma caught her. He lowered her to sit on the edge of the bed, and sat down beside her, keeping one arm around her back for support. Licking his dry lips, he asked, "Are you ...?"

Akane nodded. "I'm pregnant," she whispered.

"Oh man." Ranma's own whisper was rife with emotion.

The two teenagers sat there like that for a long time, neither one moving. Hardly even breathing. They thought they had prepared themselves for this moment, but the world had just changed under their feet in an instant, proving that they hadn't been prepared at all.

When Ranma finally took a deep breath, it was to say, "We need to get married as quickly as possible."

Akane turned toward him. "I don't want you to feel you have to ..."

"Stop it!" he snapped. Then he turned contrite. "Sorry. Didn't mean to sound so sharp. Look, I already told you. I _want_ to marry you. Maybe it's sooner than I expected, but ... it's okay. I want to. You understand? I - want - to - marry - _you_. Okay?"

Akane, still shaken, nodded slowly. "But weddings take a long time to plan."

Ranma shook his head, smiling. "Not for our pops. I bet they can arrange for it to happen tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!"

"Yeah, tomorrow. Think about it!" he urged her. "We gotta get it done before anybody finds out you're pregnant. Hell, we gotta do it quick so the baby doctor can think it happened after the wedding. So, tomorrow." He pouted, looking enormously silly. "Don't you wanna marry me tomorrow?"

She couldn't help but smile at his ridiculous look, albeit the smile was a trifle sad. "Quit fooling!" she told him, slapping at his arm lightly. Then, taking a deep breath, she asked, "Are you sure?"

Ranma nodded, his expression serious.

Akane bit her lip, still worried, examining his features. Finally she took a deep breath, accepting. She gave him a smile and then, choosing to answer him without words, leaned forward and kissed him. After a startled moment, he returned the kiss.

Several long seconds passed before Akane pulled back, gazing at him shyly. "How are we going to do this?" she asked.

"I suppose walking into the family room and announcing 'I knocked up Akane' is right out?" Ranma inquired, both eyebrows raised.

He bounced off the opposite wall, rolling back toward where she sat on the bed.

When he finally came to a stop at her feet, lying face up on the floor, Akane lowered her fist to glare at him. "How about," she suggested menacingly, "we just let them 'accidentally' overhear us admit we want to get married? They'll probably have a priest here before we can turn around, don't you think?"

Ranma wiggled his head to stop the ringing in his ears. Looking up at the girl who had just agreed to marry him, he gave an impish grin and admitted, "I suppose that works too."

* * *

**Author's note:**

People who follow my LiveJournal will recognize this as the essence of the story idea I proposed on 2008-12-15. The first time, I think, that I've written a story based on an idea which I shared publicly first.

This isn't a very long story. Originally written as a one shot, I have split it into two chapters for posting. In other words, the conclusion is coming in the next chapter.

When I add this story to my web site (unusually, I'm putting it on FFnet first), I'll also be adding a piece of fan art by Xasonnex showing Shampoo and Ranma in the drugstore scene above.

Also, for those of you who don't follow my LiveJournal, I'll take a moment to explain why this is the first thing I've posted in three months. Back in June I started having chest pains. I spent seemingly half the month of August in hospitals, eventually having four cardiac catheterizations done (an angiogram which revealed the blockages, two angioplasties, and a followup angiogram). I'm now the proud owner of no fewer than six stents in my coronary arteries. I'm apt to continue to be slow at writing my fan-fiction as the array of medications I'm now on is giving me a fair bit of trouble from the gastric point of view - that's making it hard enough just trying to get my real job done. But I'm not planning to quit writing, and I intend to return to _Side by Side_ once this current story is complete.

_Related sites on the web:_ Please visit my profile page for information on upcoming chapters or stories, by clicking on my name at the top of this chapter. My profile also has links to my web site, LiveJournal site and forum. The web site contains the official versions of my stories. The LiveJournal site provides updates on what I am working upon at any given time. The forum is a place to discuss my stories or _Ranma 1/2_ in general.


	2. Veritas

**In Vino Veritas?  
By M. Zephyr**

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

Ranma x Akane. You know all of those stories where Ranma and Akane get drunk, wake up the next morning in bed together, and realize what they did the previous night ...?

Warning: There is a small amount of sexual description and situations in this story.

* * *

**Chapter 2. Veritas**

With a new sense of urgency pressing upon them, the two teenagers had decided that the fastest way to get married would be to allow their fathers - "accidentally" - to overhear them talking about marriage. They made their plans quickly. A short time later Akane strolled down the hall, hands behind her back, whistling in a way meant to show that she was completely and absolutely innocent of any type of scheming whatsoever. Her father glanced up curiously from his shogi game as she continued down the hall, the sound of the back door closing a moment later.

Soun looked back down at the game. While struggling to remember exactly where the pieces had been before he looked up, he remarked, "That was a trifle odd, don't you think?"

"I assure you I didn't touch the board," Genma replied, raising his hands swiftly to shoulder height, palms out. His friend gave him a suspicious look, but returned his attention to the game.

Not for long, however. Only a minute later Genma heard a slight whisper of sound in the hall. He looked up just in time to catch the sight of his son creeping past the doorway on tiptoe, raising each foot high and placing it back down silently. This was followed a few seconds later by the barest squeak of hinges as the back door opened and shut.

Genma looked back down at the game board, frowning over how it had apparently been rotated. But it was his son's behavior which concerned him more at the moment. "Yes, very odd," he agreed. "I think perhaps we should check this out." He stood and headed toward the back door. Setting the game aside, Soun followed.

A quick scan around the yard revealed no sign of their children, so the two men crept up to the open door of the dojo. Genma knelt down, putting his ear as close to the edge as possible while remaining out of sight. Soun leaned over his stouter friend, his mustache quivering as he strained to hear.

"But what if our fathers find out?" Akane was saying, in a soft voice the two men could barely hear.

"We'll just have to be careful to make sure they don't," Ranma said quietly in reply.

"How long do you think we can hide the fact that we've fallen in love?" Akane asked. "They're bound to notice sooner or later."

Just outside the door, Genma turned his face up and Soun looked down. They stared at each other, eyes going wide, happy grins spreading rapidly.

"Yeah, well ..." Ranma said hesitantly. "I admit, I do want to marry you. But I was thinking we could wait a while, like maybe until ..."

"Tomorrow!" Genma shouted from the doorway, as he and Soun bounced into sight. "Congratulations! I knew you'd come to your senses one day!"

Soun was crying. "Oh, I'm so happy for you! At last! My little girl is getting married!"

"Dad! Uncle Saotome!" Akane yelped, jumping up and trying to interrupt, in vain.

"To-Tomorrow?!" Ranma stammered. "Are you nuts? We can't ..."

"Come inside, quickly!" Genma said gleefully, overriding his son's protest. "We must prepare for the wedding!"

"Yes, yes!" Soun added. "We have to call the priest, contact the guests ... so much to do. Come along, come along!"

The two teens found themselves chivied out of the dojo in front of their anxious fathers, their tentative objections completely ignored. They were maneuvered into the house, where Soun immediately called out for Kasumi to come help them make plans.

Genma called the priest they had on speed dial, and was assured that the man could be there the next day to conduct the ceremony. Then Soun called Nabiki at college, who was utterly shocked to hear that her sister was getting married the next day.

"But tomorrow's a Monday!" Nabiki complained. "I have classes. Hell! I have two tests scheduled! I can't possibly get away!"

"Skip them!" he told her, almost giggling. "This is more important."

The volume of Nabiki's response caused Soun to hold the phone away from his ear, wincing with pain. Kasumi took the receiver from him and listened sympathetically to her sister's complaints.

"Perhaps we can put the ceremony off a few days until you can make it home," she suggested diffidently, clearly inviting those with her in the hall to also consider this possibility.

But Genma and Soun wouldn't hear of that, insisting once again on tomorrow as the date. Furthermore, and much to Kasumi's surprise, neither Ranma nor Akane made any effective attempt to reinforce her suggestion. In fact, from a quick whispered conversation between the pair, it was obvious that both were distinctly ambivalent to the idea of Nabiki being present. Kasumi caught the phrases "wedding invitations" and "avoid another disaster."

"I'm sorry Nabiki," Kasumi finally said into the telephone, "but I'm afraid they're all agreed it will be tomorrow. Yes. Even Akane and Ranma. Of course, we're all terribly disappointed you won't be able to make it. Good luck with your tests. Er, here's father again."

She handed the receiver to the man who was gesturing at her impatiently. As soon as he raised it to his mouth he said, "Like Kasumi said, good luck with your tests. We're sorry you can't make it. I'm afraid I have to say good-bye now. I have a lot of other calls to make. I'll talk to you later."

"But ..." Nabiki started to say.

He hung up the phone, cutting off the rest of her sentence. From a drawer in the telephone table, he pulled out a little black notebook with "Guest List" printed on the front, opened it, and dialed the first number listed there.

During one of the calls, Ranma leaned over and whispered in Akane's ear. After her father hung up, and before he could dial the next number, she hesitantly asked about school. Unsurprisingly, both their fathers immediately shrugged this off, insisting that the happy couple could skip school for the purpose of getting married. In fact, they went on to suggest that the two should take the entire week off of school, in order to have a little honeymoon. This caused the two teenagers to blush madly, but neither voiced any objection to the notion.

Behind their fathers' backs, Ranma and Akane exchanged a thumbs up at getting the wedding scheduled tomorrow just as they had wanted.

* * *

Despite all the practice Genma and Soun had at putting together a wedding on short notice, there were still a great many chores to be performed in order to pull it off. The three children did lend a hand, but Akane and Ranma ruthlessly insisted that their fathers do the bulk of the work. After all, they pointed out, it was the two men who insisted the ceremony must be tomorrow. Which didn't stop Genma from trying to assign Ranma the task of decorating the entire dojo.

Akane and Kasumi were on their way upstairs to put together the outfits to be worn for the wedding when Genma shoved a big box of decorations into Ranma's arms and gave that order. Akane paused, looking at Ranma's twitching face. He'd been growing increasingly agitated as the reality of the upcoming marriage sank in, and she was worried what he might do or say if he lost control. She stepped back off the staircase and walked over to him, laying a hand on his arm, waiting for him to bring his breathing back under control.

"Why don't you take off for a few hours?" she suggested softly. "You look like you need to get away for a while. Kasumi and I are going to take our time upstairs - I need a break too. Just drop that box here. Our dads will take care of it when they find out they don't have any other choice."

"They'll have a few things to say when I get back," he replied morosely.

"So what?" Akane answered this. "Take your time, calm down, and you'll be ready to face them when you get back. Besides," she said with a small smirk, "I'm a little worried about what'll happen if you stay. You're a terrible actor. If you hang around, you'll say or do something to make someone figure out something funny is up."

With that she kissed him and pushed him out the door. As he hopped away across the rooftops, he turned to see her waving good-bye. Naturally, a brief shower hit at just that moment, compelling him to make his escape in female form. Ranma didn't stop until he was a couple of kilometers from home, atop a telephone pole where no one could bother him. There he crouched, thinking over everything that had happened and would happen, trying to come to grips with the idea that he'd be married tomorrow.

Ranma looked around himself from his high perch, trying to decide how he felt. On the one hand, he was a little sad, especially for Akane's sake, that they were being forced into it like this before they were ready. On the other hand, it was a legitimate question as to whether he would ever feel ready to get married. The idea was rather scary. All the more so when he nervously considered the fact that, tomorrow night, Akane was going to be his wife.

He'd been sitting there for an hour when Cologne came hopping along out of the distance. She landed on the other end of the beam upon which he was perched. Before long Ranma was squirming uncomfortably beneath her unflinching stare.

"What d'ya want, old ghoul?" he finally exclaimed, unable to take it any longer.

Cologne sighed, contemplating the red-haired girl before her. "My great-granddaughter Shampoo tells me she met you this morning. And during this meeting, you expressed a most - shall we say unexpected? - preference."

Ranma didn't think it was very fair to describe his preference for Akane as all _that_ unexpected. But he supposed Cologne might see it that way. So he nodded, and stated unequivocably, "Yeah, I did."

Cologne fought the urge to brain the teenager with her staff. "And you couldn't have figured this out two years ago? Let us know back when we first arrived? Before we wasted all of this time?"

Ranma stared at her. "I, uh, didn't think you'd accept it. I figured you'd tell me I had to marry Shampoo anyway."

The Amazon elder glared at him, and slowly unclenched her teeth. "Idiot boy. There are some things I know one cannot change. I have no intention of letting Shampoo be trapped in a marriage which is doomed to be unhappy. We'll be leaving immediately. Tonight. I have no wish to waste one more minute in this place. Or on you."

She studied the girl in front of her a minute longer, even while she knew the study was pointless. It was no doubt too soon to see any outward sign of pregnancy. Particularly since the curse would extend the time it would take the pseudo-girl to come to term. Still, she had to admit to a measure of curiosity.

Cologne cleared her throat. "Ah, Shampoo mentioned a pregnancy test. May I ask ...?"

Ranma looked down, feeling his cheeks redden. "Yeah," he confessed, "it was positive."

Cologne nodded, knowing the boy - or for the moment, girl - to be a terrible liar. Even if it was a false positive, which was quite unlikely with the modern tests available, the possibility alone was sufficient proof of Ranma's inclinations. There was no way that he would ever be a suitable husband for any woman, let alone for her heir.

"Very well," she announced, "you won't be seeing us again. I suppose I should wish you happiness, if you can find it in the life you have chosen."

Ranma looked up, touched. "Thanks old ... er, elder."

Cologne gave him one last nod, then bounced away. Within minutes she had vanished from sight in the direction of her restaurant. Ranma reflected that it was going to be very odd, not having the Amazons around in Nerima any longer.

* * *

As the guests gathered the next afternoon, Ranma showed them to their seats in the dojo but otherwise dithered around outside, reluctant to don his tux right away. Not because he was unwilling to go through with the ceremony, this time, but because he was on the watch for potential troublemakers. He figured that some of them, at least, were bound to hear of what was going on.

Surprisingly, it was the lost boy himself, Ryoga Hibiki, who showed up first.

"Hey, Ryoga!" Ranma greeted the other boy, dropping down from the roof right in front of him. "Hope you're not looking for a fight. It's not a good day for it."

Ryoga gazed around the yard, the decorations on the dojo, the handful of other early arrivals milling around. "What's going on here?" he asked. "Some kind of party?"

"A wedding," Ranma said warily, watching for his rival's reaction. "Mine. And Akane's."

Ryoga slumped. "Ah, crap. Why'd I hafta find my way here today? I coulda gone without seeing this!"

"You're ... not gonna try to stop us?" Ranma asked, uncertain.

Ryoga shook his head, leaning back against the wall. "No. I already gave up, months ago. Back the last time you almost got married. Akari and I've even gone on a couple of dates. When I can find my way to her farm, leastways."

"Oh," Ranma replied, brightening. "Good. Say, if you stick around, maybe I can have someone help you find your way there, later."

Ryoga gave his old enemy a sour look. "Like hell. That would mean sticking around to watch you marry Akane."

Ranma shrugged. "I think it might mean a lot to Akane if you would. She's always thought of you as a friend, y'know."

"Yeah," he griped. "Just friends." Ryoga ran a hand through his hair. "Oh, what the hell. For Akane's sake. Not yours."

"Sure," Ranma agreed. "Let me show you to a seat."

Ukyo was the next to show up. Ranma met her at the gate and the two of them stood there, facing each other - Ukyo glaring, Ranma fidgeting.

"Hey Ucchan," the young man said nervously. He glanced at her arms crossed over her chest. "Um, glad to see you don't have any okonomiyaki this time. You wanna come in? As a guest?"

She continued to glare at him silently, the lack of words somehow emphasizing the glare. Ranma's fidgeting grew worse.

Ranma cracked a fake smile. "You, uh, wanna hit me? Maybe more than once?"

"I'm thinking about it seriously," she hissed quietly. Unable to help herself, she finally spat out, "You were supposed to marry _me_. Your father promised you to _me_. I'm cuter. I'm a better cook. Why _Akane_?!" Her rival's name emerged as an agonized gasp.

Ranma thought about trying to explain. He opened his mouth to tell her that yes, she was cute, but he'd always found Akane more attractive, despite the things he'd said. Just in time, he realized how well that would go over, and closed his mouth again. "Cooking ..." Ranma paused, prepared to tell her that cooking wasn't everything, that love was about more than who had the better resume. But part of him realized that it was hopeless before he even began, so he just left the word hanging.

He looked at his old friend standing there, glaring at him bitterly. Her teeth were starting to grind together. He decided on the spur of the moment to risk telling her a partial truth, something that might help her come to terms with losing this way.

"I got something to tell you," Ranma said, reaching for her elbow. "Come down the street a ways."

Ukyo yanked her arm free from him, breathing hard, staring after him. But in the end she had to know. She followed him down to the corner. There she resumed her stance, arms crossed, staring at him.

Ranma reached back and fiddled with his pigtail, then took the plunge. "You remember that party a couple of weeks ago? The one where Akane and I both got drunk?"

"Yeah, you bastard," she said. "I remember everyone going on about how the two of you were making out. I guess you were already planning this then, huh?"

Ranma shook his head. "No. But Ucchan, Akane and I didn't just get drunk. We got _plastered_. We were both completely out of it. And, well, we, uh ... Ucchan, we _have_ to get married. Fast."

She didn't get it at first. Then her eyes went impossibly wide. "You mean Akane is ...?" She gulped, and held a hand over her stomach.

Ranma nodded, managing to look miserable. It wasn't all that hard. "Neither of us meant to do it. We could barely remember it, the next day." Well, okay, they couldn't remember it at all, but he didn't have to tell her that. "We've both been praying the last couple of weeks that nothing would come of it. But ... the test came back positive."

Ukyo's lips were pulled back involuntarily, showing her teeth. She was breathing hard, and her hands clenched so tightly into fists it was surprising her nails didn't draw blood. "Haven't either of you ever heard of _protection_, you ... you ..." Her head was shaking back and forth, unable to think of any expletive scathing enough.

Ranma just hung his head. "We were _drunk_, Ucchan."

"Don't call me that!" The young chef and martial artist felt a huge, yawning hollowness inside of her. She knew that Ranma, as annoying as he could be, had a sense of honor. He would never abandon a baby if he was the father. She wondered for a moment if maybe Akane hadn't been quite as drunk as Ranma, if maybe she had seduced him, maneuvered him into this. But then she dismissed the idea angrily. She and Akane might have had their fights over Ranma, but Akane wasn't the sort to do something like that.

Ukyo turned away, finding it hard to continue looking at Ranma. Tears started to well up in her eyes, as rage gave way to despair. She really had lost him, Ukyo realized. The long struggle was over, and she hadn't won. All that was left was picking up the pieces of her life, and somehow going on.

"I ... understand," she got out. "I hope you weren't expecting me to come and watch."

"Not if you don't wanna," he replied. Then he wilted under the scathing look Ukyo gave him.

As she turned away, Ranma cleared his throat, making her hesitate. Nervously, he requested, "Look, could you, uh, not tell anyone 'bout this? We're trying to keep it a secret. Even our dads don't know."

Ukyo looked him up and down, lips pursed. "People are going to _guess_, Ranch- ... Ranma."

Ranma grimaced, knowing all too well she was right. "They'll _suspect_," he corrected firmly, as if the conviction in his voice could make it true. "But they won't _know_. It's only been just over two weeks. We'll tell 'em it musta happened after we got married. It could've, you know. So unless they wanna flat-out call us liars ..."

Ukyo shook her head. "If it makes it easier for you to hope it works that way, go ahead. I'm tired. I want to go home. I think ... no, I'm _definitely_ going to get drunk myself. Good-bye Ranma." She turned and walked away, head high.

Ranma wasted no time returning to the dojo after Ukyo's departure, but for some time there were only ordinary guests. He was beginning to run low on time to change his clothes, and wondering if they really were going to pull this off without any of the crazier locals finding out until it was too late. Then came a distant laugh which sent shivers running down his spine.

He looked up in resignation to see Kodachi Kuno bouncing into view. She was wearing a black wedding gown, just like the last time. So intent was Ranma on her approach that he almost didn't duck in time to avoid beheading by the katana which sliced past.

"Hey, Kuno!" Ranma called, kicking the older boy in the gut. "Haven't seen you in a while. I've almost missed beating you up every morning at school."

Tatewaki Kuno, Kodachi's brother, bounced off the wall to land in a stance holding the katana above his head. However he withheld his strike as his sister landed between him and his foe.

"Restrain yourself, brother dear," Kodachi caroled. "I have no intention of allowing my Ranma-sama to marry that harlot you chase after."

With that she thrust a bouquet of black roses into Tatewaki's face. He recognized the threat and jumped backward too late, inhaling a large dose of paralysis gas which shot out from among the stems. He took three stumbling steps backward before falling to the ground, where he lay unmoving.

Kodachi turned slowly to face a wary Ranma. "Why aren't you dressed for our wedding, Ranma-sama?" she asked, allowing a trace of annoyance to show. "The priest awaits, as do the witnesses. Hurry, that we may proceed to the wedding night!"

Ranma tried, not for the first time, to break through the crazed gymnast's unique perception of the world. "I'm marrying Akane, not you. Thanks for stopping your clunkhead of a brother. Now I'd like you to leave. Just ... let me get married in peace. Okay?"

Kodachi chortled gaily. "Oh, but of course you cannot marry that harridan! However, I see that I must be more persuasive." With that she whipped out a ribbon, and snapped it in his direction.

This proved to be a mistake, for Ranma had been counting on her use of that move. He ducked and grabbed the ribbon as it went by, leaping in Kodachi's direction. Dodging the club with which she tried to strike him, Ranma circled her at high speed, binding her arms to her sides with the ribbon. When he was done, she was trussed quite soundly.

"But Ranma-sama," Kodachi giggled, "we cannot start the wedding night before the wedding!"

Ranma shuddered, trying to banish the mental image called up by her words. Lifting the bouquet from the ground where she had dropped it, he said, "I'm afraid I need you to keep still for a while." Finding the trigger mechanism after a moment, he sprayed some of the gas into her wide-eyed face, after which she became still.

With that he carried first Kodachi, then Tatewaki, over to the shed in the corner of the property. Setting them down inside, he closed the door, figuring that no one would be likely to disturb them. Glancing at the sun, Ranma realized that time was growing short, and decided he better hurry into the house and get dressed.

At the top of the stairs he ran into Kasumi. The older girl said, "I was just coming to look for you. You're late! Hurry and get dressed!"

"How's Akane?" he asked, unable to hide his worry.

"She's fine," Kasumi reassured him. "She looks beautiful." Then she paused and reconsidered. "Actually, she did, er, get sick again, just before she got dressed. I hope she'll be all right through the wedding and reception."

"Yeah," agreed Ranma guiltily, blaming himself for Akane's condition. "I'll see you in the dojo in a few minutes." He ran into his room and speedily tossed his clothes everywhere, before pulling on the various pieces of his tuxedo.

"There. No - wait. Was I supposed to put that on first? Ugh. Yes. No. That can't be right. Who the hell designed this stupid thing? Maybe ..."

The young groom-to-be eventually fumbled his way into the tuxedo, accompanied by a good deal of cursing. He reflected on his previous experience wearing the garment - it was a lot easier when one was knocked unconscious and then woke up already wearing the blasted thing.

As soon as he was dressed, Ranma hurried to the dojo, his eyes darting back and forth over the assembled guests. He breathed a sigh upon seeing no sign of other potential troublemakers. His pop and Akane's dad were leaning together in each other's arms, both of them weeping for joy. A little premature, Ranma thought, considering what happened last time, but after that he put them out of his mind. His mother, standing near the front in a beautiful kimono, gave him an encouraging smile. Ranma stalked stiffly up the aisle between relatives and classmates to join her.

"Try not to look so nervous, my son," she whispered once he was standing beside her.

Ranma tried to smile. "Aww, I'm not nervous."

Nodoka gave him a real smile, demonstrating her happiness at this moment. "You shouldn't lie to your mother, Ranma."

Her son had the grace to blush, after which he turned his eyes toward the door, watching for Akane's entrance.

He didn't have long to wait. Kasumi came in first, dressed in a kimono of her own, smiling broadly. Ranma watched the older girl approach, but then Akane appeared in the doorway, and all other sights and sounds vanished except for her. She was wearing the same dress as the last time they'd tried to get married, but on this occasion Ranma was in a better frame of mind to appreciate it ... and her. He swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his chest, as she moved gracefully up the aisle to stand facing him.

"You look ... You _are_ beautiful," Ranma whispered. Akane gave him a nervous smile in answer.

She really did look beautiful, Ranma thought, unable to tear his eyes away from her. The fact that she looked like she might throw up at any moment didn't detract from her appearance in the least. Although he did warn himself to be ready if she did, so he could quickly jump behind and hold her to keep the results from landing on either of them.

As the priest stepped toward them a diminutive figure leaped through the open doors into the room. "Sweeto!" Happosai cried aloud, before splashing Ranma thoroughly and latching on to his female chest.

"Get off me you old freak!" Ranma shouted in soprano. He knocked the old man through the air to land halfway down the aisle.

Happosai immediately bounced back to his feet with a lascivious grin, but was then tackled by Soun and Genma. As Nodoka moved forward lifting a bundle in her arms, the ancient pervert threw the two fathers off of him. The two men landed in a heap at the back of the room. The backward rolling throw left Happosai momentarily sitting on the floor, but before he stood again he saw the mature yet lovely woman bearing down on him. He essayed a tentative smile of greeting.

Nodoka pulled her katana from its silk wrapped sheath. As the blade came free she gave a cry of dismay, for the handle slipped out of her grip. The sword spun end over end before landing point down, embedded in the floor of the dojo.

Happosai looked down at the blade quivering between his legs, his face ashen. Its edge had sliced through a few threads right over his crotch. He looked up again, unable to control his trembles, just as Nodoka reached him and placed her hand on its hilt.

The old man scooted back quickly, but didn't dare rise from the floor, watching Ranma's mother like a mouse might watch a hawk. "Mercy!" he croaked, the word barely making it out of his dry mouth. "I beg you, please! I promise I'll be good!"

Nodoka gave him a long look. Her expression seemed severe, but that was because she was trying to hide her embarrassment at dropping her sword in front of all of these people. She pointed to an empty chair. "Please sit there, sir, until we are finished."

Happosai nodded rapidly, not daring to say anything more. He hopped up and ran over to the indicated seat, plopping himself down and folding his hands together in his lap. He put on his best angelic face.

Nodoka returned to the front of the room. From off to the side she picked up a kettle and a towel and handed both to her temporarily female son. When he was done restoring his masculine form she took them both back and set them aside once more.

"If there are to be no other interruptions ...?" the priest inquired. He waited almost a full minute in anticipation, annoying Ranma considerably, before proceeding with the ceremony.

Much to everyone's surprise the rest of the wedding went off without a hitch. Akane managed to get through it all feeling only a little light-headed, neither of them fumbled their responses, no one else showed up to interrupt, and Ranma and Akane even managed the kiss at the end with only a general amount of embarrassed awkwardness.

The Kuno siblings recovered about halfway through the reception, but by then it was much too late for them to do anything. Ranma booted Tatewaki over the wall, and Akane provided the same service to Kodachi. Ryoga managed to voice his hesitant congratulations to the smiling bride. Soun and Genma were still joyfully crying and were now well on their way to replacing their blood with alcohol.

Eventually the guests started to disperse, with Hiroshi offering to escort Ryoga to Akari's farm as a way of making up to Ranma for the night of the party. Both fathers were passed out by that time. Kasumi and Nodoka refused to allow the newlyweds to help with the cleaning up, insisting that they hurry inside and change then go catch their train. The plan was for Ranma and Akane to spend the rest of the week at a small inn at the north end of the island, an inn which was owned by a widow who had been a friend of Nodoka's deceased mother long before Ranma was born.

* * *

On the train ride north, Ranma turned to Akane with a hesitant look and asked, "Any regrets?"

She looked at him curiously. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

Ranma gave her a small smile and shook his head. "No, I ain't got no regrets." He paused briefly, frowning. "Well, actually, yeah, I do regret ..."

"What?!"

"Wait! Wait! I don't regret getting married! I wanted to! I told you that!" Ranma noticed that several other passengers had turned and were staring at them. He shrank down into his seat.

The audience soon returned to their own concerns. Taking a deep breath, he tried to correct the initial impression he had given. "What I regret is getting drunk. Getting you ... well, the situation you're, we're, in. But not getting married. I don't regret that."

Akane linked her arm through his. "Good. I don't have any regrets either." She sighed. "Maybe someday you'll learn how to think before you speak. And maybe, someday, I'll learn to let you finish what you're saying before I react."

"Not holding my breath, tomboy."

She slapped his chest. "We're married now, baka. Do you have to keep calling me that?"

"As long as you keep calling me a baka, tomboy."

"Oh. In that case, okay, baka."

Ranma smiled at the exchange, but the smile slowly turned into a frown. Licking his lips, he said, "There's something I've got to tell you."

Akane found herself holding her breath at the serious tone and expression. "Yes?" she inquired.

Ranma looked past her. "Um, I, uh, told Ukyo. About, you know, you being ... pregnant and all."

"What?!" Akane started to hyperventilate. "I thought we weren't going to tell anyone! What if she blabs? What if we go back to find out everyone knows? How could you?"

"Easy, Akane, easy." Ranma held up a hand in a slow down gesture, looking nervous. "Ukyo ain't like that. She wouldn't do that to you. Yeah, you and her were rivals, sorta, but c'mon ... you know better." He watched, eyes pleading, as her breathing started to slow.

"As for why," Ranma continued, "I had to. Well, I didn't _have_ to, but ..." He deflated a little, and he looked down as he went on in a weaker voice. "It was easier for her this way. _You_ know you're the one I _really_ wanted, but she just found out she lost, that I was marrying you, right then, today. Was I supposed to tell her straight to her face, 'Sorry, but I never really loved you.' I couldn't do that."

"So you lied to her," Akane huffed.

"Well, it wasn't _exactly_ a lie," he replied defensively. "I mean, we got married now, today, 'cause of what happened. I just didn't tell her the whole truth."

Akane sighed, calming down. "I suppose I understand. Although I wish you'd asked me first. I still think you ought to tell her the _whole_ truth. Maybe after she's had a chance to get used to what happened."

"I'll, uh, think about it," her new husband offered.

They settled back, still arm in arm. Some time passed.

Ranma looked over at the girl sitting beside him, who was gazing out the window of the train. "Um, Akane," he said softly.

She turned her regard to him. He noticed that she actually looked happy.

Ranma cleared his throat. "Are you, uh, nervous? About tonight?"

Akane frowned at the question, before deciding to take it seriously. After giving it some consideration, she replied thoughtfully, keeping her voice low, "Yes. Of course I am. After all, neither of us remember, you know, _th-that_ night." She paused. "So, well, in a way, it ... it _will_ be. Our f-first time, that is. And it's not like we've even, you know, k-kissed much."

She returned his question with a curious expression. "Are _you_ nervous?"

Ranma puffed himself up to make a macho display of confidence, but then deflated. "Yeah. I am."

She held his arm a little tighter, glad he was being honest. "It'll be all right," she whispered. "I _want_ to, well, to be your wife. And I want you to be my husband. In, um, every sense."

Ranma relaxed at last, his lips helplessly curving into a smile at the thought of her words. Saying nothing more, he joined Akane in looking out the window, looking forward to reaching their destination.

* * *

The toilet flushed and Ranma listened to the sound of his new wife gargling in the bathroom, then brushing her teeth for a second time. A minute later Akane emerged, fairly alluring in a nightie which was the closest thing she owned to something sexy for her wedding night. On the other hand, she was looking a trifle pale.

From his seat on the bed, wearing pajama bottoms but with his chest bare, Ranma commented, "Way to kill the mood. Isn't morning sickness supposed to happen in the, you know, _morning_?"

"Put a lid on it," she responded. "Or else I may decide to go straight to sleep."

The concern in Ranma's eyes belied his earlier teasing words. "Honestly, maybe you should, if you're not feeling well. I'm not gonna insist we have to do anything. I'd kind of like our first time, er, you know what I mean, the first time we remember, I'd like it to be special."

Akane sat beside him and put a hand on his knee. "Is that your female side coming through? I didn't think boys thought like that."

Ranma glared at her. "I mean it."

Akane gave him a smile, her special patented smile which always lifted his heart. "I know. And thank you. But I'm already feeling better now that I've, if you'll pardon the expression, gotten that out. Let's just take this slowly. Why don't we go sit in the chair over there and, uh, kiss. You know, start with something that, um, isn't too ... new."

Ranma nodded his agreement to this suggestion, and they spent some time making out, with Akane sitting in his lap. Their kisses slowly grew more passionate. When Akane felt she was ready to move things along, she slowly stroked her hands along Ranma's chest and shoulders. When he didn't get the message, she took one of his hands in hers and pressed it to her chest.

It took Ranma a little longer to overcome his hesitancy and adjust to the idea that Akane _wanted_ him to touch her like that. Eventually, however, the strength of his own desires overwhelmed any latent fear of being knocked into orbit. As their exploratory touches grew more intimate, Ranma carried Akane over to the bed, where they discarded some articles of clothing which were getting in the way and continued with their experiments.

At long last Akane signaled her readiness. There was no need to pause to deal with protection since, to put it bluntly, that ship had already sailed. Ranma moved over her and attempted to position himself, but found that he was more awkward than he would have believed possible and couldn't seem to achieve what he thought ought to be a reasonably simple task. After all, he'd managed it when he was blind drunk, hadn't he? In the end Akane took him in her hand and positioned him for the act they were now both eagerly, if nervously, anticipating.

When Ranma pushed forward, Akane gave a grunt and repositioned herself. When he pressed again, a helpless "Ow!" escaped her lips, causing Ranma to freeze instantly.

"Are you okay?" he whispered. "Am I not, you know, doing it right?"

Akane tried to reassure him, and herself at the same time. "It's just a little more painful than I expected the second time to be. I don't know, maybe that's normal. Or maybe it's because we waited so long." She thought over what some of the girls had said in bull sessions. "Just ... do it. And then hold still for a bit."

Nodding, Ranma took a deep breath, then leaned forward and kissed Akane, putting himself into the kiss. As she responded to his kiss, Ranma pushed forward, almost whimpering himself at the sound of the pained gasp she breathed into his lips. When he could go no further he stopped and just held her, trying not to think too hard about how very tightly Akane gripped him.

After a timeless eon, perhaps a minute or so, Akane whispered, "Okay. That was a little more like the other girls described it. And here I thought missing out on that pain was one of the few _good_ things about not remembering our first time."

"I'm sorry, Akane," Ranma whispered, sounding forlorn. He always hated hurting her in any way.

She leaned her face up and kissed her new husband. "Dummy. If there's one thing martial arts teaches, it's that sometimes a little pain is inevitable. I'll be fine. Now why don't you show me what kind of a stud I married. Just ... take it slow."

The next morning Akane was concerned at how sore she felt, worried that there might be something wrong. She kept her fears to herself, and gradually grew less concerned as the pain passed away. That evening she surprised Ranma with the enthusiasm she displayed, particularly after it became apparent that the previous night's pain would not be repeated.

* * *

"We're home!"

"Oh, Akane!" Kasumi cried, rushing out of the kitchen. She swept her little sister up into a hug, and bestowed a smile upon her new brother-in-law. "We didn't expect you back so early today. Everyone else is out."

Akane returned the hug enthusiastically. "We were up early this morning, and decided to catch an earlier train than we'd been planning. We'd done enough sightseeing, and I wanted to get home. Besides, I figured we have plenty of homework to catch up on before tomorrow, so we might need the extra time."

Kasumi pulled back to hold her at arms' length, smiling. "Yes. Yuka left it all on the desk in your bedroom, Akane. Of course," her eyes flickered to Ranma, "the bedroom is both of yours now."

Ranma looked a little dazed. "Huh. I guess it is."

"Baka," whispered Akane, smiling fondly.

"So, did you have fun?" Kasumi asked eagerly.

Akane turned bright red. "Um, y-y-yeah." Ranma's face turned the same color.

Kasumi's hand flew to her mouth, as if she could push her question back in. She took a step backward. "I ... I didn't mean ..."

Akane gave an embarrassed laugh. "It's okay, oneechan. I'm just not used to being married yet. And we did enjoy ourselves with some sightseeing and so forth. If you'd like, we can, um, talk later."

Kasumi nodded, a tentative smile returning to her face.

Akane turned to her husband. "Come on, let's go unpack. And figure out how we're going to arrange things in ... _our_ bedroom. I suppose we'd better get started on that homework, too."

Ranma just groaned and followed her up the stairs.

* * *

Akane and Ranma left early for school, supposedly so they could have a chance to talk with a couple of teachers before the first class. Instead Akane led Ranma out of their way by several blocks, until they stepped up in front of a large building.

"A medical center?" Ranma said with a question in his voice, reading the sign in front. "Is this where you were headed? What for?"

Akane gave him a look which suggested he ought to be able to guess the basic answer without asking. "This is where Doctor Koshino works. She's the doctor I saw after I turned eighteen. The, um, you know, she's a gynecologist." At Ranma's blank look, she added, "A doctor who deals with women's stuff."

"Oh," said Ranma in a squirming sort of voice. Then he looked enlightened. "You want to see her about, uh, ..." He waved a hand vaguely in the direction of Akane's midsection.

"Our baby, Ranma," she confirmed with a touch of exasperation. "And yes. We got married a week ago yesterday. Hopefully she'll believe I got pregnant then. We can't put it off any longer or she's bound to guess the truth. I don't know when she'll do the first ultrasound, but anything much more than about two weeks difference is bound to be noticeable."

"Ultra... Oh. One of those fuzzy pictures of the baby inside you. Right?"

Akane shook her head with a sigh, but at least she hadn't had to explain. "Right. Now come on, I want to make an appointment. Then we have to get to school."

Ranma looked at the building warily. "Yeah. Um, I'll just wait here. Okay?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Ranma Saotome, you were there when I got into this mess. So help me, you are going to be there when the doctor tells me I'm pregnant. You are _not_ going to chicken out on me! Have you got that?"

"I ain't no chicken," he grumbled. Then he took her hand and led her into the building.

They were back out again a few minutes later, Akane looking relieved and Ranma apprehensive.

"We were lucky about that cancellation," Akane was saying. "I was worried she wouldn't be able to see me that quick. Just remember we have to leave the moment school ends this afternoon. No hanging around with your friends. Before you try to duck out on this appointment, you'd better keep in mind that I know where you live."

Ranma chuckled weakly. "You got nothing to worry about. Haven't you figured that out yet? All you got to do is threaten to lock me out of the room tonight, and I'll cave in and do just about anything you ask."

Akane turned to him with a smile and bright eyes. "Reaaally? Hmm." Then she shook her head sadly. "Don't put ideas like that in my head, baka. I don't want ... this last week ..." She was getting flustered, so she took a deep breath. "What we shared was special. Is special. I won't ever use it like that. I promise." She gave him a mischievous look. "If I want to make you do something, I'll just threaten to kick you into orbit, like always."

"Hey, is that fair?" Ranma complained, eyebrows lifted. "We're married now. _I've_ been trying to be good. I haven't been insulting you _nearly_ as much."

Akane laughed. "You're right. Sorry again. If I want to get you to do something ..."

She paused, thinking. Then she stopped. Since they were holding hands, Ranma had to stop as well, and he turned toward her curiously. Akane stepped closer, with a sway of her hips. She looked up into his face, batting her eyelashes. Reaching up and slowly trailing a finger down his chest, Akane's tongue poked out slightly and traced around her lips. "Ranma," she purred huskily, "will you do something for me?"

Ranma swallowed, heavily. "Anything," he rasped.

Akane laughed, then spun around, walking down the street once more, pulling Ranma along behind her. "That's how I'll get you to do something," she announced.

Ranma blinked a couple of times, coming out of his daze. After a moment he noted drily, "That's a damned effective technique for getting your way." With a snort for his own weakness, he asked, "When did you become so sexy?"

Akane turned her face toward him and lifted an eyebrow. Calmly, happily, she said, "I told you a long time ago, Ranma. If I met a boy I liked, I'd develop some sex appeal. And you know what? I like you."

Walking along beside her, Ranma reflected on the memory. All the way back when they'd fought those two ice skaters. 'The Yellow Pair' or something like that. She _had_ said something along those lines, hadn't she? And after the last week he could finally admit that Akane was very appealing when she wanted to be. Very. He licked his lips at certain memories of the week just past. Gripping her hand a little tighter, he strolled along beside his wife, feeling inordinately happy.

* * *

Doctor Koshino walked briskly into the examination room, where Akane was sitting on the table and Ranma was seated nearby on a stool. The doctor was in her mid thirties, wearing a white lab coat open over a dress, the sides of the coat billowing as she moved. A pair of narrow glasses was perched on her nose.

"Well, Mrs. Saotome, it says you're here for a pregnancy test." She lifted the top piece of paper and glanced at another underneath. "It also says here that you were married just a week ago." She fixed Akane with a steady gaze. "Now would you like to tell me what's really going on?"

"Wh-What do you mean?" Akane stammered. "We were married a week ago and, well, did what you'd expect. Now I'm throwing up and, I thought, you know, maybe I got pregnant. Is there any reason that couldn't happen on the wedding night?"

"Of course it can," the doctor agreed. "And if it had, then in a couple of more weeks, after you were about a week late, you'd take a home pregnancy test. _Then_ you'd make an appointment to see me. So why don't we try the truth this time, hmm?" She turned her gaze toward Ranma, who turned red and looked at his lap.

Turning back to Akane, she said, "Anything a patient says to me is in strictest confidence, of course. But as your doctor, I prefer to have all of the facts so that I can give you, and your baby, the best care possible."

Akane thought it over for a few moments, then nodded. "It happened like this ..." She proceeded to tell the doctor everything, starting from the night of the party.

Doctor Koshino listened to the tale dispassionately, allowing a little sympathy to show on her face as part of her bedside manner but otherwise revealing nothing else of her thoughts. It was, after all, hardly an unfamiliar tale to a physician of her specialty. Except, perhaps, for the extreme haste with which this couple had acted.

"Very well. So you believe yourself to be three weeks pregnant, as opposed to one week." She made a notation on her clipboard. She looked back up. "Now, as I told you, everything you've just said is confidential. I feel obliged to point out that many people will suspect the truth, and some of them will be impolite enough to voice their suspicions. I only say this to be certain you are prepared, and will not allow yourself to become unduly upset."

"The guys will keep their mouths shut," Ranma said with assurance, smacking a fist into the opposing palm. The doctor lifted her eyebrows.

"I understand," Akane assured her hastily. "And I think it will be all right as long as they can't _know_ for certain."

Doctor Koshino nodded. "Then I'll have the nurse come in here to draw some blood, and to get a urine sample. After that, I'll want to come back and give you an internal exam, now that you're sexually active."

Akane blushed. "O-Oh. Okay." When the doctor walked out, Akane said quietly but sternly, "You're leaving before the exam, got it?"

"Want me to leave now?" he asked hopefully. Akane glared her answer.

After the nurse obtained the necessary fluids, the newlyweds sat there and waited. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Twenty. They were becoming quite agitated when the door finally opened.

"About time," Ranma remarked, barely keeping himself from snarling.

The corner of the doctor's mouth lifted up. "I do have other patients, you know." She turned to Akane. "You said that you took a home pregnancy test a week ago. Could you tell me a little more about that?"

Akane, not expecting the question, paused to think about it. "I, um, threw up that morning. I realized it was probably the morning sickness starting, and I asked Ranma to go buy a pregnancy test for me. I took it, and it said I was pregnant."

"Did you follow the directions? Anything unusual happen?"

"Why?" Akane asked. Remembering, she said, "I was interrupted right after, uh, you know, using the test. Ranma's mother had stabbed his father, and they needed to get into the bathroom."

Koshino leaned back against a wall, arms folded in front of her, eyes grown very wide. "Did you say she _stabbed_ him."

Ranma answered, embarrassed. "Mom carries a sword around. But she's, uh, not very - what's the word? - proficient with it."

"Meaning she drops or tosses it around by accident all the time," Akane explained.

"I was trying to put it nicely," her husband said sulkily.

The doctor shook her head, bemused. "In any case, you had to leave the bathroom? Taking the test strip with you?"

"Yes," Akane confirmed. "But then Kasumi - she's my sister - she wanted my helping cleaning up the blood. So I had to hide it in my room while I helped her."

Doctor Koshino sighed. "And how long was it before you got back to the test and looked at the result?"

Akane shrugged. "An hour and a half, maybe?"

A peculiar smile settling on her face, the doctor explained, "The test should be checked after the time specified in the directions. Usually a couple of minutes." She allowed a few seconds for that to sink in, then announced, "Congratulations, Mrs. Saotome. You're not pregnant."

Akane's jaw dropped. Ranma fell off the chair onto the floor. After watching her husband long enough to make sure he hadn't knocked himself out in the fall, given how still he was, Akane turned back to the doctor and timidly asked, "I'm not?"

"Not unless it's happened in the last week," Koshino confirmed. "Even the blood test will have trouble picking it up until at least a week has passed. But the chances are, you're not."

"But I'm over a week late! And I've been throwing up every day!"

The doctor shrugged. "There are a lot of reasons you could be late, and I'll have the lab run some tests on your blood to be safe. Most likely though is that it's due to stress. You have been feeling a lot of stress, haven't you?"

Akane nodded weakly.

The doctor went on. "As for the throwing up, you've probably got some sort of bug. A touch of flu, perhaps. Which might also contribute to being late. I'd suggest trying to get a little more rest, to help you recover."

In a strange, quiet voice, Akane admitted, "I told Kasumi it was probably a touch of flu."

"And you were probably right," Doctor Koshino told her with a cheerful smile. "Just to be safe, we'll go ahead and do the rest of the exam. And I'll have some tests run on the blood, like I said. Given that you're probably not pregnant, if you want to stay that way, I'd suggest you start using contraceptives."

From where he was lying on the floor, Ranma started laughing. "I know the perfect drugstore to buy them at," he pronounced, continuing to laugh.

Akane turned to him with a frown. "This isn't funny, baka! Don't you realize? We didn't have to get married!"

Ranma stood up and took her hand in his. Deciding this wasn't enough, he stepped closer and pulled Akane into a hug. "I told you already, I _wanted_ to marry you. Maybe it was a bit sooner than planned, but maybe it was for the best, too. Who knows how long I would have dragged my feet about it? And you know what else? I've really, _really_ enjoyed the last week."

"Baka!" Akane exclaimed, face like a tomato. She hit him hard enough to knock him into the wall. "Can't you wait till we're alone to say things like that?!" She jumped off the table, grabbed him as he bounced back toward her, and hugged him. "Thank you. You're ... not upset? About getting married when we didn't have to?"

He grinned. "No. I meant it. It's probably all for the best, and I like being married to you. Now why don't I step outside while you finish up in here?" He nodded slightly toward the doctor. "If her eyebrows go up any higher, they might get stuck there, and we wouldn't want that." Giving Akane a kiss, he stepped around the examination table and let himself out the door.

"Interesting husband you have there," Doctor Koshino remarked.

"You have no idea," Akane replied, turning back to the table.

* * *

"We're home!" Akane called out. Although she didn't notice, her voice was considerably lighter than it had been when she made the same announcement the day before. When she had been expecting to confess her pregnancy within the next few days.

"How was your first day back at school?" Kasumi asked, emerging from her room to meet them in the hallway upstairs.

"Okay, I guess," Akane said.

"Bunch of perverts," Ranma added. Kasumi gave him a strange look.

Akane explained. "Everyone was asking us about the honeymoon. _You_ know." She shrugged. "For some reason it seems to be bothering Ranma more than me. Maybe it's just that I was expecting it more."

Kasumi nodded. "You got a package in the mail from Nabiki today. Some sort of wedding gift, apparently. That's what she wrote on it, anyway. I left it on your desk."

"Okay. Thanks."

They continued down the hall into their room. The package was just where Kasumi said it would be. A fairly small, flat square. Tearing it open, they found a jewel case containing a DVD, and a note saying, "Sorry I missed the wedding. Here's a gift to remember a special night. Make absolutely certain you're alone when you watch it."

"What do you think it could be?" Akane asked, holding the case gingerly between thumb and forefinger.

"I'm afraid to guess," Ranma replied, eyeing it almost the way he would a cat.

"Come on," Akane said. "We can watch it in Nabiki's room."

"Are you sure that's safe?" he wondered, looking around almost as if he expected Nabiki to pop out of some corner.

"Yes, come on scaredy-cat. The only other player is in the family room, and the note said to make sure we watched it alone."

Ranma shut the door carefully behind them as Akane crossed over to the DVD player with the small television sitting atop it. She turned on the television first and adjusted the volume to a low level, then popped out the tray and slid the disk inside. Ranma joined her nervously and they sat together on the bed, waiting to see what this was all about.

The screen remained blank for a minute, then lit up with an image which was nonetheless still quite dark. After a few seconds of puzzling out the shapes in the limited light coming through a window, they both identified it as their bedroom, Akane figuring it out first due to long familiarity. Although already obvious from the fact that this had arrived in the mail, they could also see that the image predated the small amount of rearranging they had done yesterday.

"I'm sure the two of you are wondering what this is about," Nabiki's voice came from the television, "and if you're not alone, on your own heads be it. I give you my word of honor that no one other than myself has seen this, and no one ever will. At least, not unless you screw up and let someone else get hold of this."

The image seemed to be unchanging, although a close inspection would reveal the digits on Akane's bedside clock changing with each passing minute. Nabiki's voice over continued. "I'm sure you're not going to be too happy that I was filming your room, little sister. But just think, if I hadn't, we wouldn't have this great footage. Besides, I wasn't really expecting to get much, if anything. The most I was hoping for was that you might come home from the party a little tipsy. Maybe do a little dancing around the room, or singing, as you got ready for bed. I certainly wasn't expecting what I got instead."

Akane and Ranma realized at the same moment that this was taken the night of the party. They turned and gave each other a long look, then turned nervously back to the screen. Despite the activities in which they'd been engaging for the past week, both of them were rather disconcerted by the idea of watching a video of themselves performing such acts. Let alone the notion that Nabiki must have watched it. All the same, neither of them got up to turn it off.

"Anyway, the moment I saw this I just knew I had to give you a copy as a wedding present. Whenever the two of you stopped dancing around and finally had a wedding. Not that I ever _dreamed_ it would be this soon. Whatever _did_ get into the two of you? Of course, after watching this it was obvious both of you were a lot more comfortable with each other than you were letting on. Anyway, I hope you had fun on the honeymoon. I'm pretty sure you did, sis, after getting a look at your husband here. Now sit back and enjoy. I know I did."

Nabiki's voice finally came to a stop. There was a noise and then the room was filled with light. A couple of figures appeared in front of the camera, and the young couple immediately identified themselves. Ranma was carrying Akane bridal style, swaying a little as he walked, their lips locked together in a passionate kiss. He walked over to the bed and sat down, managing to keep Akane in his lap. Their lips never separated.

The newlywed couple's hands crept together and clasped each other as they watched the surreal vision play out before them, the scene from three weeks past which neither of them could remember. They watched in awe as their images kissed passionately, hands caressing each other's bodies. They watched in something like disbelief as those hands began to undo buttons and zippers, creeping inside the openings thus provided. Intellectually, they knew that something of the sort must have happened given how they had awakened the next morning, yet at the same time it seemed so unreal, a play which must have been staged with actors who only looked like themselves.

Then the clothes started coming off. Both continued to watch, highly embarrassed. Akane lifted a hand in front of her face, peeking between her fingers. The caresses became even more intimate, and both of the teenagers were amazed that they had been so bold before their wedding placed the stamp of official approval on such behavior.

The Ranma on the screen happened to look up toward the ceiling, squinting his eyes against the light shining down on them. They listened as he drunkenly drawled, "H-Hang on, 'Kane. If we ... we get un-undressed, we're g-gonna get sun-sunburned."

The figure of Akane joined him in looking up. "S'okay. I g-got some sunk- sukre- stuff to stop sunburn." She climbed off Ranma's lap, wearing only her panties, to dig around in a box on her shelf. A few seconds later she held up a tube triumphantly. "Ha!" they heard her say as she crawled back toward Ranma.

"What the hell?!" the Ranma in the present asked.

"That's my sunscreen lotion," Akane whispered back.

Squeezing out a palmful of lotion, the Akane they were watching slapped it onto Ranma's chest and started spreading it around vigorously, while he tried to tug at her panties, working them partway down her legs. They heard her say, "G-Gotta get the parts that don' get much su-sun." The Akane of the now slapped her other hand over her eyes to join the first hand as the Akane on the video started slathering lotion on Ranma's bare backside.

Ranma mumbled, "Boy were we drunk," as he watched himself from three weeks past grab the tube of lotion and spread some on Akane's breasts. Then he took a generous helping and reached right between her legs.

The drunken Akane jerked back with a small pained shriek, then backhanded Ranma across the room. "I-I d-don't need any of that st-stuff inside _there_, baka!" she exclaimed. Then she pouted and said, "I didn't ... didn't hurt you, d-did I?" She got up and went over to Ranma, dragging him back to the bed.

Akane, still peeking between her fingers, lowered her arms to stare at the junction of her legs. She remembered examining a white gooey drop on the end of her finger after waking up that morning three weeks ago. Could that have been ...? But no, surely what she had found was a residue from later, after she and Ranma ...

"Holy sh-!" Ranma bit off the exclamation.

Akane looked up to see what was going on, only to watch flabbergasted as her past self began vigorously rubbing lotion up and down on Ranma's ... his ... that part of him in which she'd been taking such an interest this past week. The look of concentration on her face in the image was almost as arresting as what her hands were doing. With a sharp cry Ranma ... well, he got a bit of a mess on himself and on the sheets.

"Did I really do that?" Akane whispered.

"I guess so," Ranma whispered back. "Wish I could remember it. Looked like I was enjoying myself." Akane slapped him on the chest lightly, but he barely noticed so engrossed he was with events on the television screen.

They watched as, on the video, Ranma took Akane in his arms and the two of them lay down on the bed.

"Time for the main event," the current Ranma whispered. Akane nodded, both reluctant and strangely eager to see the act which had so changed their lives.

They continued to watch as the pair lay there, beside each other. After a couple of minutes, the watching Akane asked, "Why aren't we doing anything?"

Ranma shrugged. A couple of more minutes passed silently. "You know ..." Ranma hesitated, then finished his sentence. "I think we passed out."

Akane's head whipped around to stare at him. She looked back at the television, eyes wide. Fumbling for the remote, she finally got it pointed the right way and pressed the fast forward button. The video zipped by with little change, other than small shifts in position of the two sleeping figures. Then the screen went blank.

"We ... we didn't ...?" There was a horrified note in Akane's voice.

"Oh boy," Ranma said with feeling. Then, "Why the _hell_ couldn't Nabiki have given us this three _weeks_ ago?!"

"Is that regret I hear in your voice, Ranma Saotome?" Akane growled. She was staring at him through narrowed eyes.

Ranma leaned slightly away, wary of her fists, trying to think fast. "Uh, uh, nope, no way. I love being married to you. Best thing that ever happened to me. Yep, ..."

Akane chuckled, bringing him to a nervous halt.

With a smile, she told him, "Just kidding. If you hadn't beat me to it, I was going to ask the same thing." She looked down after saying that. "But, you know, if she had, we probably wouldn't be married now. In fact, we'd have probably gotten really embarrassed and had a huge fight about it. Maybe, maybe, ..."

Ranma took hold of her hand, squeezing tightly, causing her to look up and search his face. She smiled tentatively at what she saw there. "Yeah, you're right," Ranma reassured her. "I guess it really was for the best. 'Cause now that I'm married to you, I wouldn't want to have it any other way."

Immediately after saying that he reached up and scratched the back of his head. "There's just one thing left that's worrying me."

"What's that?" his wife asked curiously. "You don't really think Nabiki will sell this to anyone, do you?"

"No, no," he waved this off. "This goes way beyond anything she'd do." He paused thoughtfully. "Though I guess I could see her editing it just to the point where we were sitting on the bed kissing, and selling that."

Akane's mouth twisted wryly. "I'll have a word with her. If it's not that ... are you worried she'll tease us about it? The next time she comes home? What's the matter, can't take a little teasing?"

Ranma chuckled. "Now that you mention it, she is probably going to get some pretty good digs in. Like looking at the light in the family room during dinner and mentioning sunscreen. But I reckon I'll survive. And it'll be amusing watching how red in the face you get at the same time."

Akane jabbed her elbow into his side. "Watch it, buster." She bit her lip, thinking. "Are you worried that our parents will start trying to convince us to start a family for real?"

He shook his head. "Naw. They might, but we've been dealing with pressure from them ever since I got here. We can handle it."

"The kids at school? Kuno? Kodachi?"

"Nope. Nope. Nope."

Akane sighed. "Okay. I give up. What's worrying you?"

Ranma let his face fall into a woeful expression. "Well, it ain't gonna be long before it's pretty obvious you're not pregnant. Of course, no one's expecting you to be. Except for one person. Ucchan thinks you're pregnant, and that's why I married you. When she finds out you're not ..."

He dropped his head.

"... she's gonna slice and dice me with that monster spatula, and serve the bits up on okonomiyaki in her restaurant." Ranma regarded his wife with puppy dog eyes, pleading, "Can I, pretty please, hide behind you while you tell her the truth?"

Akane, unable to help herself, buried her face in his chest and began sniggering. "No deal, baka. You're the one who blabbed. You get to straighten her out." She snuggled in closer. "But if it helps, I'll hold your hand while you do it. Now what do you say we go back to our room, hide this disk, and find something more interesting to do than homework? Like making sure neither one of us gets any sunburn?"

His only answer was a grin as they hastily retrieved the disk and left the room.

** THE END **

* * *

**Author's note:**

There you go, and I hope it was worth the wait. Next up, if things go according to plan, will be another chapter of _Side by Side_.

_Related sites on the web:_ Please visit my profile page for information on upcoming chapters or stories, by clicking on my name at the top of this chapter. My profile also has links to my web site, LiveJournal site and forum. The web site contains the official versions of my stories. The LiveJournal site provides updates on what I am working upon at any given time. The forum is a place to discuss my stories or _Ranma 1/2_ in general.


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